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Across the country, millions of Americans have likely found themselves paying more for their auto and home insurance coverage over the past several years than they might like. There are many reasons these necessary policies could end up costing consumers more these days, but when rate increases happen, they aren't likely to be all that thrilled with the prospect. For this reason, insurance agents may need to do more to soothe their clients' concerns over rising rates, potentially by explaining why it's happening, as a means of helping to smooth over any potential issues that could arise.

Illinois residents have likely been faced with some serious weather issues in the past few years, thanks to hail storms and wind in particular, that are now serving to raise their home and auto insurance costs for 2015, according to a report from Quincy, Illinois, television station WGEM. In all, consumers there could end up paying as much as 3 to 8 percent more for both kinds of coverage in the coming year.

""Companies either have to increase their premiums, decrease coverage, or increase deductibles,"" J.T. Dozier of Dozier Insurance in Quincy, told the station. ""Or sometimes a little combination of all of them. We're seeing with most of our companies higher minimum deductibles especially with wind and hail claims.""

What can be done?
Consumers who are particularly worried about these higher costs might want to take steps to better insulate themselves from high premiums, the report said. That could include voluntarily raising their own deductibles above and beyond any changes put into place by the insurer, as this will help to keep their costs minimal unless their property is hit with a need for a claim.

Customer satisfaction should be of the utmost importance to insurance agents, and therefore whenever issues that might create a potential issue in this regard arise, they will have to take steps to deal with them quickly. While rising premiums are often going to be a point of concern for people, if the reasons for them are explained satisfactorily, then the impact might not be so pronounced. Moreover, if those agents can also take the time to find discounts for consumers in the wake of those increases - as a means of offsetting them in full or in part - then that, too, might have a positive impact on their relationships with their customers.

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