Homeowners Insurance in Florida whoa!!

[Jims5543]

Well, last year my insurance doubled from $1500 a year to $3200 after shopping it down from $5000.

Then the Florida legislature and Gov. Bush got involved and I was glad because they said they were going to regulate the insuracne companies and keep their rates down to earth.


Then I got my insurance bill for this next year. It doubled again!! This time it is $6500!! So this means my escrow is short and I will have to make it up there too. My mortgage payment will easily jump up $500-$600 a month now.

The premium increase was accompanied with a letter explaining that there was a discount because of the legislature.

This is all very frustrating.

Anyone in the Insurance biz that can give me some advise on what to do to get my rates abck to earth?

I have already increased my deductable to the max for windstorm coverage. I really do not know what else to do. I am with State Farm right now, I have 6 cars with them, my home and all my business insurance = about 18K a year in insurance. I am ready to yank it all and give my business to the insurance company that will not rape me on my homeowners.

BTW - 3 hurricanes over 2 years ago and no claims from my home.

Plan B is to mortgage my house in North Carolina (I own it outright) and pay off the home home in Florida, then not carry insurance at all and self insure. I would open a bank account with about 15K in it and add 5K a year to it.

Plan C is to sell the house in Florida and follow everyone else to North Carolina.

[on-ramp]

How long before your mortgage is paid off? When you own your home outright, I believe that insurance is not mandatory, by law.
Insurance, when it comes down to it, is to protect the bank's asset. That's right , your home is an asset for the bank, for you it's a liability. Same issue here, our insurance/taxes go up every year but there's nothing we can do. Insurance is a corporate American made scam, plain and simple.

a lot of people in this situation:

-owned home for many years.
-they pay insurance premiums
-no claims filed during those years.
-hurricane hits
-house is destroyed
-Insurance companies DENY - DELAY - DEFEND
-a short time later, premiums double and triple.

ha ha!

[Jims5543]

We paid our house off in Florida 2 years ago. We then mortgaged it and bought a Vacation home in North Carolina near Procon.

I could easily mortgage the house in NC and then self insure the Florida house and get rich off myself instead of an insurance company getting rich off of me.

This might be the best plan especially when you consider it costs me $400 a year to insure the house in NC.

[hytem]

Insurance rates are coming down in Florida, after the state governement got involved. They had that heavy hurricane season a couple of summers ago which hurt the insurance companies. And there are a lot of paper shacks and trailers in Florida prone to storm damage--which the state doesn't regulate. I doubt they are insurable anyways--but somebody pays when those properties get demolished in storms.

The media hasn't been very helpful, either, with its constant gloom and doom speculation about hurricanes. Last summer they predicted six hurricanes, and there were none. This year, they are predicting nine hurricanes. You wonder if the insurance companies are being affected by such negativism. After all, they have to be conservative. But then, the media has a poor track record predicting weather any more than 24-48 hrs in advance.
So why listen.

[turbo6bar]

I like Plan B. Sure, you're assuming the risk, but $6500/yr will add up rather quickly. Spend some of the savings on improving the home and reducing the likelihood of damage.

[nota]

''Plan B is to mortgage my house in North Carolina (I own it outright) and pay off the home home in Florida, then not carry insurance at all and self insure. I would open a bank account with about 15K in it and add 5K a year to it. ''

+1 thats what we do
insurance is betting your going to LOSE
thats a dumb bet
if the homes have a good roof and quality shutters
an ANDREW LIKE HURRICANE is a once in a 100 year event
for a eye wall strike out side that zone the damage is not worth 5000 a year thats 500,000 over the 100 year risk span

20k should build a bahama style SCREWED AND GLUED 3 ply
A/C or better grade roof that will never blow off or need replacement eathor!!!!!
unlike the nailed?cdx crap in common use

and good shutters is far cheaper too
the main trick it soild mounting inside the window recesses
where the wind canNOT grab a corner to rip them off
forget the roll up or fold down type neathor stayed in place in ANDREW

my old 40's build house got a near miss and no damage
about 20 miles from the eye wall of ANDREW
and the current house is right in the eyewall zone and was rebuilt [roof] after the storm
so should be safe for many more years

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by hytem
Insurance rates are coming down in Florida, after the state governement got involved. They had that heavy hurricane season a couple of summers ago which hurt the insurance companies. And there are a lot of paper shacks and trailers in Florida prone to storm damage--which the state doesn't regulate. I doubt they are insurable anyways--but somebody pays when those properties get demolished in storms.

This was AFTER the legislation. Its almost like the government just gave the insurance companies the green light to screw us over.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by turbo6bar
I like Plan B. Sure, you're assuming the risk, but $6500/yr will add up rather quickly. Spend some of the savings on improving the home and reducing the likelihood of damage.

House has a pretty new roof, new shutters, and a 15KW Generator.

Also, I have been hit by the EYE of 3 storms, no damage.

I am planning on a new metal roof in the next 2 years maybe this summer.

My wife and I were talking and we are leaning hard towards plan B.

This house is 20 years old, insurance companies collected premiums for 20 years without a claim, now suddenly, I am high risk?

[RoninLB]

business mags run the Fla home insurance mkt every so often. The last one was about the Governor pushing the Fla State Ins as a last resort for home owners. The issue was that Fla taxpayers will be hit to fund the current Fla Ins deficit. Re-insurers have been up-dating the hurricane odds and a bad one will hang the tax payer and bankrupt the maze of small ins co's doing home insurance.

The Governor is almost forcing other carriers to stay at current premium price levels that want to reduce exposure or raise rates. I think Allstate has a separate co to write Fla policies so they could legitimately declare it bankrupt if needed.

A similar issue is Nat'l Flood Insurance Program that deliver relatively cheap premiums because tax payers throughout the country subsidize it. You can build a $250k house in Hatteras and get washed away every year because the US will keep building you a new one without being hit for increased premiums. In Fla it's the stare tax payers that subsidize their home insurance mkt.

If Fla home insurance is marked to risk politicians feel they will be voted out of office.

[74-911]

Originally posted by RoninLB

A similar issue is Federal Hurricane Insurance that deliver relatively cheap premiums because tax payers throughout the country subsidize it. You can build a $250k house in Hatteras and get washed away every year because the US will keep building you a new one without being hit for increased premiums. In Fla it's the stare tax payers that subsidize their home insurance mkt.

I'm confused by this statement. Are you saying there is Federal Hurricance Insurance or that there should be Federal Hurricane Insurance? I presume this would be windstorm coverage?

I've lived on the gulf coast for several years and have never heard of any federal govt backed hurricane insurance program and am pretty sure there is none. In TX if you live in the coastal counties your homeowners insurance is relatively inexpensive but windstorm coverage is excluded. It's the windstorm (which is a state run cat pool) and flood insurance (Flood is a federal program) that run up the tab.

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by 74-911
I'm confused by this statement. Are you saying there is Federal Hurricance Insurance or that there should be Federal Hurricane Insurance? I presume this would be windstorm coverage?

me bad.. another confusing statment.


i should have said Nat'l Flood Ins Program.

i paid $1,016 last Nov.

[Henry Schmidt]

I recently got a flood policy added to my home owners because the bank determined we were in a flood zone.
We live on a hill top 800 feet above the nearest water. There are no other hills around us. We have a 360 degree view. If Noah went by, he and the animals would be looking up.
Flood zone? what a crock

I'll let you guys know what I find out about unreasonable insurance requirements when I do some investigating.

[74-911]

Originally posted by Henry Schmidt
I recently got a flood policy added to my home owners because the bank determined we were in a flood zone.
We live on a hill top 800 feet above the nearest water. There are no other hills around us. We have a 360 degree view. If Noah went by, he and the animals would be looking up.
Flood zone? what a crock

I'll let you guys know what I find out about unreasonable insurance requirements when I do some investigating.

A typical federally run program. I live about 3 miles inland but only about 20-25 ft above sea level and am classed in flood zone C which essentially means I'm not in a flood zone. However the mitigation maps for this area show a Cat 5 hurricane probably flooding this area so I pay about $300 / year for max coverage flood insurance. Better safe than sorry in hurricane land.

[targa911S]

Jim, as well you know that is one of the reasons I got out of there. I acually could not afford to retire and stay there.

[RoninLB]

i read over a year ago that that insurance co's & the Feds are taking notice of areas subject to river flooding. Then i saw a public relations push by the Feds of the Nat'l Flood Ins Program subject to river flooding.

I think when my area gets whacked by a good size hurricane we'll be going through what Fla is going through now.

btw.. the US is subsidizing my lifestyle on a sand bar.

[TerryBPP]

Strange your rate went up. Mine just went down $300 thru All State. Last year was $3000, this year is $2700.

[masraum]

My mother lives in the panhandle just east of Pensacola. The end of last year her ins pretty much doubled to $5k. She paid her year and then a couple of months later the ins co went bankrupt. I'm sure that's why they raised her premium. Someone probably got fat off of those premiums. Fortunately, apparently there's an agency in FL that's going to reimburse her for the portion that wasn't used. She found new insurance for $2700. So when your ins co raises your ins in FL, I think it's time to shop around.

[Deschodt]

Same here, $1700 -> $4200 and I own the place...

I am seriously considering "self-insuring" - a fancy word for putting some money away and hoping it doesn't get too bad...

But, what I'd like to still have is theft + fire + some umbrella policy in case some dumb kid slips on my driveway or something, and NOBODY in FL is willing ot give me that without the hurricane policy buttf$#k...

Ideas ?

[The Gaijin]

Somebody needs to start a company writing liability only and make a mint!

[RoninLB]

up here it may take a few policies to cover what one used to cover fully.

I'm not on current events but i think just about the whole Long Island has been placed in a "hurracane zone".