[K9Veteran]

Wow, this is GREAT INFORMATION, depressing, but great information. We had hear about ¨Citizens¨ and knew most of the major players (State Farm, AllState, USAA, etc) had left the State. I understand the risk factors the insurance companies face given Florida´s geographical location, but DAMN, I don´t see how a homeowner (single family home) can afford the insurance costs. Even if the premiums are within your budget, it makes you wonder, as some have very correctly stated, what happens if rates are suddenly raised 30%-40% after a big storm or (God Forbid) you suffer a major loss and are forced to file a claim, resulting in long delays in payment and then cancelation of your policy. Given that situation, the only solution I can envision, assuming you have no mortgage, would be collecting your settlement check and leaving the State to start over someplace else. VERY GOOD POSTS, thanks for the information, very informative ! !

[sware2cod]

Originally Posted by K9Veteran

.... if rates are suddenly raised 30%-40% after a big storm or (God Forbid) you suffer a major loss and are forced to file a claim, resulting in long delays in payment and then cancelation of your policy. Given that situation, the only solution I can envision, assuming you have no mortgage, would be collecting your settlement check and leaving the State to start over someplace else....

If you don't have a mortgage, another choice is going without insurance or choosing to insure for only certain perils or choosing to insure for less than the cost to build or choosing a very large deductible.

Other options to keep insurance premiums down is to forego "contents" coverage and only insure the home itself, not the stuff inside the home. Or have contents coverered for current value(used) rather than replacment cost of buying everything brand new.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by K9Veteran

Wow, this is GREAT INFORMATION, depressing, but great information. We had hear about ¨Citizens¨ and knew most of the major players (State Farm, AllState, USAA, etc) had left the State. I understand the risk factors the insurance companies face given Florida´s geographical location, but DAMN, I don´t see how a homeowner (single family home) can afford the insurance costs. Even if the premiums are within your budget, it makes you wonder, as some have very correctly stated, what happens if rates are suddenly raised 30%-40% after a big storm or (God Forbid) you suffer a major loss and are forced to file a claim, resulting in long delays in payment and then cancelation of your policy. Given that situation, the only solution I can envision, assuming you have no mortgage, would be collecting your settlement check and leaving the State to start over someplace else. VERY GOOD POSTS, thanks for the information, very informative ! !

If you stay further north and\or away from the coast you won't have huge insurance costs & related issues.

I don't know if you will see a cost spike that big after a major storm, but it's possible.

Payment delays I wouldn't worry about. There are laws about how fast they have to pay and it's rarely an issue.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

If you stay further north and\or away from the coast you won't have huge insurance costs & related issues.

I don't know if you will see a cost spike that big after a major storm, but it's possible.

Payment delays I wouldn't worry about. There are laws about how fast they have to pay and it's rarely an issue.

In 2004 those lawsuits filed to get the money took awhile. We saw blue tarp roofs for almost 2 years and some larger condo groups ended up not even rebuilding.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

In 2004 those lawsuits filed to get the money took awhile. We saw blue tarp roofs for almost 2 years and some larger condo groups ended up not even rebuilding.

In many of those cases they probably didn't have flood coverage and got hit with 1 storm surge. Or there turned out to be some other coverage dispute or somebody let their coverage lapse or they bought from a small insurer based just in FL that wound up going bankrupt and so they had to go through the state insolvency fund....could be any number or reasons.

For most of the people there isn't a problem.

P.S. The state has also changed building codes after major storms only to back off them later on. I would not assume that the pace of rebuilding or even rebuilding at all as you noted was due to any slowness in paying.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

In many of those cases they probably didn't have flood coverage and got hit with 1 storm surge. Or there turned out to be some other coverage dispute or somebody let their coverage lapse or they bought from a small insurer based just in FL that wound up going bankrupt and so they had to go through the state insolvency fund....could be any number or reasons.

For most of the people there isn't a problem.

P.S. The state has also changed building codes after major storms only to back off them later on. I would not assume that the pace of rebuilding or even rebuilding at all as you noted was due to any slowness in paying.

Actually it was often the deciding which insurance would pay and the companies both saying it was the others responsibility. so home owners were up a creek without a paddle. Sometimes it is hard to prove which let the water in in a storm.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

Actually it was often the deciding which insurance would pay and the companies both saying it was the others responsibility. so home owners were up a creek without a paddle. Sometimes it is hard to prove which let the water in in a storm.

I know that flood is often sold by the govt. so were these arguments between the govt. flood insurance program and the traditional insurers? There is some private flood insurance too so any articles you could link to would be educational.

They can argue all they want but I think there would still be fines....of course the govt. doesn't have to follow the rules or really care about the fines.

[sware2cod]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

I know that flood is often sold by the govt. so were these arguments between the govt. flood insurance program and the traditional insurers? There is some private flood insurance too so any articles you could link to would be educational.

They can argue all they want but I think there would still be fines....of course the govt. doesn't have to follow the rules or really care about the fines.

I am pretty sure the only flood insurance that is available is FEMA (Fed'l Govt). But it is purchased via private insurers. But the actual carrier is FEMA.

I guess when a big storm hits and the home is tore up, the question becomes...did the wind rip off the roof and tear out the windows and allow heavy rain inside the home, or did a wall of water push out the windows and allow floodwaters to enter the home.

I suppose in some cases it's a combination of both....where maybe the bottom flooded but parts of the roof were blown off by the high winds. Where did the wetness on the upper walls come from...the flood waters or the rain (which came from the open roof).

[City Guy997S]

As others have said, insurance is optional if there is no lienholder (mortgage). Also there are many mansions in Palm Beach that are "self insured" for windstorm. They have insurance for theft/fire/liability (because it is cheap) but no coverage for windstorm (usually high premiums). If the house is older, the value is in the land not the structure so if a storm blows the house away so what the land is still worth millions!

If I had a free and clear home and the insurance was 25K a year (like it is for big dollar waterfront homes) then after 10 years you have a 250K reserve. 250K would easily buy windows and a roof, of course if they are gone for hours during the storm the damage to the interior would exceed your reserve but from a wind damage standpoint (not total destruction) your reserve would be fine.

The other trick you can do, if the house is worth 1.5mm, the land being 1mm and the house being the remaining 500K you can simply insure the structure for 500K. Insurers object to this method but it makes sense for a homeowner (provided the mortgage amount is less than 500K) since even in a massive storm the land (1mm value) is usually unaffected.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

If you stay further north and\or away from the coast you won't have huge insurance costs & related issues.

I don't know if you will see a cost spike that big after a major storm, but it's possible.

Payment delays I wouldn't worry about. There are laws about how fast they have to pay and it's rarely an issue.

Weird cases like sending the payment to the MTG company instead of you did happen though! Guy needs a roof, check for 20K gets send to MTG company (they cash it of course) but the guy is still waiting for his roof! Now he has to fight with the MTG company to get his roof money......