[Dee74]

Just found this board today as I am looking to leave south Tampa and maybe FL because of insurance after having lived here for 20 plus years. Over the last 5 years our HO insurance went from $300 yr for 85K to being denied renewal this year to our state pool and now the rates for 175K is 3500 yr, plus flood ins for 175k is now $2100 yr so having prices quadruple or better in just a few short years with the future hurricane predictions are making us wonder if we really will be able to retire in our home, heck with all this good news we may not be able to stay here while still working! To top it off we are 175k under insured as we cannot afford it and pay the rising taxes etc. Do LOTS of research on flooding, sink holes and termites as FL seems to have it's fair share of them all. Good luck.

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by macguy

Mine went from $2400 to $4500. I have had no claims.

Prices have gone way up on insurance, and homes. Pasco county is now in a building mode. Try New Tampa dade city land o lakes or wesley chapel.
The nearer to the water the higher insurance etc. Ocala is preety nice and still country. Also some insurance companies will no longer write new policies.

judy

[WelcomeHome]

Home Insurance has been increasing at a rapid rate! If we don't do anything about it collectively they will keep going up. I have lived here all my life and it is getting to a ridiculous point. The state is allowing carriers to cancel existing policies and leaving them to their own demise. For many years before the recent hurricanes all these insurance companies have been collecting our premiums without a major hit! Since Andrew, down in Miami in 94, no major hurricane had made severe enough damage in the state of Florida with extensive losses for atleast twenty something years! Think about it, twenty years these companies were collecting let's say $100.00/ month premium. (I'm thinking that is low) Let's say that during the 70s and 80s an estimated 10 million residents lived in Florida (I haven't researched that), also, let's assume that a quarter of those residents were home owners and paying $100/ mo. That would be 2.5 million x $100.00 = .......Would you believe $250 Million in premiums collected per month! $3 Billion per year....... for 20 years equals $60 Billion dollars! Wow, that's a lot of money any which way you look at it! What are the Residents of Florida doing.......nothing! State officials have been allowing the Insurance companies to do business as they please! I believe if we can collectively voice our concerns, we can change and to some extent control how these insurance companies can do business in Florida! Hope you enjoy this reading.

[summergal]

I hate to be a downer but this is serious business... please do NOT just gloss over what we are trying to get across to you who want to move here. Yes the insurance hike is statewide (although not as much in some areas) reguardless of any claims. And please don't be fooled into thinking that you can just pay these high prices and all will be fine... it may not! It's been over two years since Punta Gorda was hit so hard and I've heard there are still people there without their homes. Even this long after! We can take the Katrina experiences to heart also. Alot of lessons there.

NO part of the state is safe from the threat of hurricanes. Everyone worries, every storm season.

Homeowners insurance is NOT generally covering anything that is caused by or results from a hurricane. Now they want you to buy an additional policy for wind and one for flood/water. I just looked over mine (just got the "revised" one in the mail) and basically it won't cover crap. I can't afford anymore extra policies. I have lived here for 25 years and just bought this house 3 years ago. I had to go with the state insurance because noone would write a new policy on an older wood-frame house. My premium was $708 for an 800 sq ft. home on the highest point in the county. My new "revised" premium is $1624! I've had no claims and no hurricanes here in Clearwater. And they said it will rise another 40% next year. I'm sure that will be standard business for many years to come.

Exclusions on my policy:
any damage caused by or resulting from...
*wind
*flood
*water
*power outage originating off of the property
*falling objects
*vandalism

If the wind blows my roof off, if a tree falls into my house, if the neighbors house blows apart and damages my house, and the rain gets in from the effects of the hurricane... nothing is covered that resulted. They are finding every way possible to not pay. Period. I'm to the point now that I can't afford it. I have to plan for a move out of state and I hope this coming season will be kind. You can loose EVERYTHING in just a week's time. *sigh*

We got so tired of boarding up the windows on and off with all these storms, we ended up leaving the plywood up on most of the house until later in the season. Some in our neighborhood never took it all down! lol Oh and we did loose power for 4 days, it's really miserable hot in your house without that a/c! Not much sleep, sticky sweaty and ya still have to go to work...lol

Sorry to be so blunt but it's better to go into something with as much info as possible, good or bad.

[Sharol]

My first post

I live far down south in Florida. The insurance required for Monroe County (the Florida Keys) is about $22.00 per $1K of coverage for a CBS built house. They call it "Hazard Insurance". In Miami-Dade County (the next county north), the same coverage costs about $11.00 per $1K coverage. Monroe County is 25% more now than the year 2005. Right now the county is pushing for a 44% increase on top of that. The strange thing is, it was Miami-Dade County that got hit hard with hurricane Andrew in 1992, not Monroe County.

Let's look at Real-estate tax in Monroe County. Take a house and very small lot at $260K. The charges are $200.00 monthly. By the time you add $250.00 per month of hazard insurance on top of that, it is very expensive. Especially if you're having to pay high mortgage payments. The general cost of living is expensive in my opinion all the way down to basic groceries too.

The bugs? They are terrible during the hurricane season. You have to run and take cover! They aren’t bad the other times of the year as the county does provide good control.

You'd better have fat pockets if you plan on moving far down south.

[bimmertl]

Don't get hung up on HO insurance rates alone. You need to look at the entire cost of living in Florida. Property taxes and housing costs need to be considered as to auto insurance premiums. Plus no state income tax.

We moved down from Illinois. Property taxes on a 300K house were $8,000. HO insurance was about $1,000. We bought a house in Florida for $371K and the property taxes are less than $5,000 but HO insurance is now $2,000. So it's 9K in Illinois versus 7K here for those two items and the Florida house cost more and appreciated much more in 18 months than the Illinois house did in 15 years. In addition Illinois had a 3% income tax so it's a no brainer, Florida is cheaper.

In additon, don't live too close to the coast and buy a newer home which is up to date on all the new building codes.

[summergal]

Also take into consideration the salaries and the type of work you do. In many of the more expensive states/areas the pay rates are generally higher than here in south Florida. Many jobs here have very low wages. If you are a manager/ exec type or a Doctor you will do much better than the "average joe" and Florida may be a feasable option for you. But the ave joes are having an increasingly hard time here. Just being honest... 300K is a darn big mortgage for most. If you can sustain such, this may really be your paradise!

Oh yeah, the bugs.... biggest roaches you'll ever see! and everyone has them as well as skeeters, ants, termites... lots of bugs in this climate lmao

[Ramjet]

Originally Posted by Buddy263

I would like to move to Florida but I keep hearing that the rates have doubled.
Is this true for all areas?
PS How are the bugs up North around Tampa, Ocala, Port Richey areas?

My family and I have been here for 24 years, Iam in construction in building homes and mortgages. The insurance rates are hitting the roof I live in holiday in Pasco on the east side of us 19 my insurance has gone to 2300,00. I am building a home in Aripeka in Pasco it will be 2800 sq ft and the cost of insurance will be 6,200.00. We are building our last house to make the money and we are moving to Tenn. Most of the insurance companies have gotten out of Florida and citizens has taken over, it is run by the state it is like the mafia or they learned very well from them. Its a shame of what is going on because people are moving out because they can not afford to live here any more and fed up with all the storms we have.also interest rates are going up as well.
Good luck

[Looking to Move]

I've lived here in Tampa for 28 years - at this house for 13 of them. My insurance rates have sky rocketed to the point that I'm looking to move on. This is terrible!

Property taxes have gotten way out of hand here in Tampa. Thank God I am grandfathered in at a maximum of 3% a year. My new neighbor's aren't so lucky. They pay four times what I do and their house is worth about $80,000 less than mine.

Car insurance will grab you too. Compare it to Tennessee and you'll see a definite difference of at least $1000 a year.

Bugs will be bugs and they just aren't going anywhere. Florida is their home. They come in all shapes and sizes but most don't really bother you. You become used to them like you do the crickets in the north. My biggest problem is the doggone mosquitos - ate me alive tonight when we tried to BBQ! The wasps are pretty common in the summer, as well as the palmetto bugs and roaches. I live off the bay here in Tampa, that may make a difference.

Best of luck to you!

[Looking to Move]

Dee74,
Hi, we're in South Tampa too. It's definitely time to relocate, huh? Can't afford to stay here any longer. We hope to be gone by June. Best of luck!