Home insurance anecdote (Tampa: rent, homeowners insurance, house)

[Cardiff by the Sea]

We had the wind mit and 4 point inspections done. Imagine what the rate would have been without that.

[craigiri]

Here is my anecdote so far......maybe some folks can suggest an alternative company or agency....

bought an old house - single story 29 feet above sea level over a mile inland in a very safe neighborhood. House is very solid (obviously stood test of time) and total house and land is about 250 (say 140 house and 110 land).

House is totally up to date - checked against all codes, permits from town, etc. etc.
House had house inspection, wind mitigation and 4-point inspection.

So, we get a couple quotes and they are both high ($2400), but we decide to get it anyway.

Florida Pennisular is the company.

Ok, so we disclose everything to the agent. No rentals, seasonal residents, have pro house watchers, almost no valuable possessions inside, no car parked there, etc. etc. - BEFORE we get quotes.

Policy is issued and paid for. Then the insurance company send out their own (independent) inspection service. House passes with flying colors.

Now comes a letter from the company threatening cancel if we don't fix a "double tapped" circuit breaker in the electrical panel noted on one of the inspections. We go through a LOT of trouble to fix this - only to be shown and notified by the electrician (and double checked numerous places) that these Square D breakers are rated and UL approved (and designed) to be double tapped. So, we ran around for nothing.

Then comes the letter where the insurance company wants us to say whether we have a pro management company (house watcher)....even though this information was given before. We send that back.

Now- today - we get a cancellation saying they don't insure houses without centrally monitored fire and burglar alarms (even though lack of such is on the original quote and every other inspection and piece of paper).

I've had it with this company. Please - if someone know of a honest company who wants a decent client, let me know. At 29 feet above sea level, it's not floating away. At 60 years old it's not blowing away - and nothing of any value is in it! In the end all they are really insuring is about 140K for rebuild if it burns to the ground.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by craigiri

Now- today - we get a cancellation saying they don't insure houses without centrally monitored fire and burglar alarms (even though lack of such is on the original quote and every other inspection and piece of paper).

I've had it with this company. Please - if someone know of a honest company who wants a decent client, let me know. At 29 feet above sea level, it's not floating away. At 60 years old it's not blowing away - and nothing of any value is in it! In the end all they are really insuring is about 140K for rebuild if it burns to the ground.

How infuriating.

I don't know about an honest company, but we are fairly satisfied with Valek Insurance Brokerage.

Sarasota Insurance Agency | Policy Quotes for Auto, Flood, Property, Homeowners, Life and Health Insurance | Valek Insurance and Bonds

[photoman_6]

you have an old house not bulit up to current codes. to replace it now would cost you that much because codes have changed drastically and electric, plumbing, roofing, windows etc need to be brought up to new standards. in addition, you are using it as a rental property.

All these factors would increase your insurance substantially. Like beninfl, I also have a newer home at close to tht value and also pay less than $800. You get what you pay for.

[kiggy]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

It turned out to not be a useless argument. They found a different formula to calculate replacement value and that different formula dropped the premium cost from $1800 to $1300.

People often confuse the value of the house with the replacement cost. The replacement cost is the amount that it would cost to replace your house in the event of a total loss IN TODAY'S PRICES. It has nothing to do with how much a house is worth, or what you paid for it. This is the basis of the insurance premium, along with other factors.

[loves2read]

I talked about this with my husband today when he mentioned he got the general homeowners' policy renewal for our Fl home...half size of our TX (DFW metro area) home and twice the insurance price...but we don't have hurricane insurance or flood ins in TX so far--home policies cover hail damage to roof/house from storms which are way more common in occurance than hurricanes in Fl...and we have not taken out flood ins eventhough our house backs to run-off creek---wet in heavy rains...

School taxes are cheap in FL--one reason so many public districts have poor schools...
don't have enough experience with various neighborhoods/areas to comment on how the tax authority quantifies the valuation for home's value...

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by loves2read

I talked about this with my husband today when he mentioned he got the general homeowners' policy renewal for our Fl home...half size of our TX (DFW metro area) home and twice the insurance price...but we don't have hurricane insurance or flood ins in TX so far--home policies cover hail damage to roof/house from storms which are way more common in occurance than hurricanes in Fl...and we have not taken out flood ins eventhough our house backs to run-off creek---wet in heavy rains...

School taxes are cheap in FL--one reason so many public districts have poor schools...
don't have enough experience with various neighborhoods/areas to comment on how the tax authority quantifies the valuation for home's value...

I read something about a month ago, that the state plans to raise money by pushing up the home valuations without changing the milage rate. Of course that is not the school portion. I hate it that bureaucrats has so much discretion in the taxes here. To me, it feels like taxation without representation.

[loves2read]

In Texas the school board and the cities and I guess other taxing entities like hospital districts had their own tax assessment/processing department--they sent out the yearly dunning letters, set evaluations, took care of appeals and other aspects of taxing properties...then for some reason the state decided to create county-size appraisal districts and merged all tax servicing work into one per county...
before the school district might value your house at one level and the county or city might value it at another--
very confusing and lot of room for error...

while I think this system runs smoother and in our situation it is fairly easy now to contest your tax appraisal online and homeowners can usually get some appeals in their favor...but by making the authority a county office vs specific to the agency there is more anonymity and we certainly don't vote for clerks who run it although we do for state legislators, school boards, county commissioners and judges...

[kiggy]

Originally Posted by photoman_6

most of the time you get what you pay for-circumstances are always different.
Premiums in San Diego probably lower because they don't expect many hurricanes there. No water surge to worry about.
If you buy an old home, you gotta expect to pay more.

Replacement value is usually going to be higher than what you paid for it, especially since you had to do repairs,

Yes Cardiff, beninfl bought newer and not near the water. his choice, his judgement.

And replacement cost values take into consideration rebuilding it to code at the cost to totally replace the building in today's prices.

[DanBev]

We have home in Ct,small 1000 sq ft,we cannot sell our North Fl property a 1997 28 X 63 on over 1 fenced acre in excellent condition because it is older than 15 years.If you could find a lender they require 20 percent down.
I have ct home insured by Foremost at $670 per year with $5000 deductible,my main concern if home burned mess would have to be removed let alone rebuild.Our daughter nearby and nice neighbors are watching property.
We do not know if we can afford another year at our age,we do like the home.
The agent used software to build home as he said one stick at a time and arrived at $160,000 cost.