lets talk insurance in florida.....state farm rant....

[bell]

ok florida guys, i'm one of the many unhappy florida state farm customers......

for the last 10 years i've been with state farm, same guy in ohio the entire time, then he retired and my policy got transfered to another local agent........as my wife and i were planning our relocation i had the new state farm agent check what changes and cost would be going from ohio to florida, as it was important info for a move like we made.......she came back with "your car will be a little more due to the no-fault state of florida".......
let's try 2X+ more than was told to me in ohio (i already made THAT phone call),my 911/vw/rav/renters was right around $700 for 6 months in ohio......FL state farm hit me with about $1700 every 6 months, now it's not that it was the increased cost that pissed me off, that's why i was planning, it's the fact that a bad agent in ohio didn't do her job......

i found out about what is going on with the policy coverage right after i got here, but again.....i was told that they'll be permitted to write new policies just into 2009 (not like i wasn't a policy holder with SF for 10 years).........
so now it is apparent what direction they are going and are dumping it's customers......

what this is creating is a ton of other smaller insurance companies in florida fighting for the 50,000+ policies........

i know i should've left them earlier......i'm a chump LOL

who do use? good/bad? any info welcome.

[URY914]

As a Florida native I'll have to say you sound just like everyone else that moves here from the North land. "Everything is better back home in Ohio" or Michigan, or NY, or etc etc etc. Wait until summer comes and you can complain about how humid it is.

[bell]

Originally Posted by URY914

As a Florida native I'll have to say you sound just like everyone else that moves here from the North land. "Everything is better back home in Ohio" or Michigan, or NY, or etc etc etc. Wait until summer comes and you can complain about how humid it is.

man i love the weather here, i moved down in the middle of june so i've already been through a summer........the north can keep their crappy weather.......i've never been able to properly explain myself in that climate

i've paid my dues.......now i need a better insurance company which is what this thread is for

[BGCarrera32]

I would have called an agent in Florida. Duh.

[bell]

The reason i didnt is because my ohio agent offered to check for me.....duh....what is this? the third grade? i already figured that out as my first post said.....geez.

[JeremyD]

http://www.shopandcomparerates.com/HOCompareSelect.htm

[bell]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

http://www.shopandcomparerates.com/HOCompareSelect.htm

that's a very informative site, thanks

[carr914]

State Farm just announced last week they will be discontinuing Home Owner's Policies.

T.C.

[3.2 CAB]

I can totally relate. State Farm is not what it used to be. When the last few bad hurricane seasons came and brought a lot of damage, they did everything they could do in their power to weasel out of paying the claims. I know some people along the Gulf Coast, that are still trying to get State Farm to pay on various types of policies. I actually had been with them for probably 25yrs. I dropped them about 10yrs ago and bought my ins. elsewhere. I am glad I did change, because I had some major damages from Katrina, and my current ins carrier was spot on in getting things right, while others I know with SF are still tied up trying to get payments on their policies. FSF

[RWebb]

State Farm sucks.

[id10t]

Never had an issue w/ my state farm. Unfortunately, in the same boat now of needing to find a new home insurer, so I may switch cars as well and see if I can get a discount (again).

One thing I like about my SF Agent is that I can tell him the Porsche isn't running, and he drops my premium on it to near 0.

[The Gaijin]

Originally Posted by bell

i found out about what is going on with the policy coverage right after i got here, but again.....i was told that they'll be permitted to write new policies just into 2009 (not like i wasn't a policy holder with SF for 10 years).........
so now it is apparent what direction they are going and are dumping it's customers......

Florida is a tough state. Hurricanes and bad drivers. Much of the rest of the country subsidized that place for years - but no longer. The market is just too competitive - and no company wants too much in one place..

[targa911S]

Welcome to Floriduh Bell. I had SF when I was there for about 20 years. They would not touch the 911 for ANY money. I went with progressive and had it done for a stated value. Cost $600 and year. Now tell us about your home owners cost....


HAPPY GASPARILLA! ARRRRGH!

[NICKG]

pfft!...you think FLA is expensive...Jersey will knock your socks off! my insurance went up a grand....1000 because my 1991 toyota pick up does not have srs systems....mind you i drive it like 400 miles a year and it costs 1100 to insure...contrast that with my 08 gti with everything...750 a year.

[gchappel]

I have had no problems with State Farm in Florida for over 20years- in fact I wish they would stay even if my rates go up. I think a lot depends on your agent. I understand their problem with homeowners insurance. I added up the bills and over the last 20 years they lost money on my house- actually paid me essentially exactly what I had paid in premiums. The storms in 2004 and an un-named storm earlier- about 1999- cost them a lot of money. The state will not allow them to increase their rates- so they may be leaving. Be very careful picking out homeowners insurance in FL- several of the other companies I have looked at are severely underfunded- and would never be able to pay out the losses if a catastrophic storm hits again. There is no easy answer.
They have insured my Porsche without any problems since 1996. I did have to sign that I would not be covered if it was on the track. It doesn't go there anymore.
Gary

[URY914]

When we moved to South Florida the agent asked if we would be living North or South of I-95 which cuts thru Broward County. We said North, he said good you just saved about $1000.

[JeremyD]

The state of Florida is now the reinsurance company for all insurance companies in Florida. Even the big ones are reinsured by the state catastrophic fund.

[rant]The part about insurance companies that most people have their blinders on - is that they are for profit companies that have to answer to shareholders. Their executives make decisions based on the here and now, not on the past 30 years or the future 30 years.

Where insurance really got screwed up is when they started taking their actuarial tables from a 20 and 30 year average to a 5 year average. This was especially telling after the 2004 storm season.

That and you have Al Gore preaching that with global warming you have the propensity for more and more severe Hurricanes. That the sea levels are going to rise - Oh and you have the population increase in Florida and even more specifically along the coasts and barrier islands.

So - basically Florida was late in getting their building codes revamped. The insurance industry should have been socking the home owners who built 3' above sea level on the barrier islands (and they took their money for years and years without incident).

And now the insurance industry is in a mess.

Of course - the insurance industry is not the insurance industry anymore. It's the calculated risk industry. If you have a home that has the potential to have a loss (like it's in the state of florida) then - no - the risk might be to great.

And it's in health insurance too - If you are male and 22 years old they will accept your premiums gladly because they know you won't need to go to the doctor (AND THEY CAN MAKE MONEY OFF YOU)

I'm just waiting for one of these Hurricanes to make it's way up the East Coast - Washington D.C., NYC, Long Island... It's happened before - Then everybody can experience the joys of dealing with for profit companies that want to collect premiums but don't want to pay claims. [/rant]

[jyl]

Insurance companies have two sources of revenue. Premiums, and investment returns on those premiums. Since their investment returns are going down, they need to raise premiums.

[The Gaijin]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

Then everybody can experience the joys of dealing with for profit companies that want to collect premiums but don't want to pay claims. [/rant]

Time to buy a policy from a "mutual" company. The policy holders own the company with no outside investors. Things go well and rates go down or you get a rebate check. Things go not so well - and rates go up and no rebates..



Real science shows (not that Al Gore stuff..) shows that hurricanes run in 40 - 50 year cycles. Guess when Florida was built up? Yes, in the lull phase of this cycle. Now there are many people, much property and heading into the active phase.

It should not cost the rest of us a penny. Not in premiums paid out of state and not in taxes. Florida should pay it's own insurance bills.

[JeremyD]

Originally Posted by The Gaijin

It should not cost the rest of us a penny. Not in premiums paid out of state and not in taxes. Florida should pay it's own insurance bills.

I'm fine with that - then don't make me pay for floods in the midwest, rebuilding NO or wildfires in California. In reality we all pay for it - just like we are all paying for the banks loaning out money to people they had no business loaning money out to.