Preliminary New *UPDATED* Flood maps from FEMA

[lizardspock]

Did anyone else see large increases in Wind and Hail premiums this year? Mine went up $1000 per year. No claims ever. Neighborhood has never had any problems.

[LocalHero]

Originally Posted by lizardspock

Did anyone else see large increases in Wind and Hail premiums this year? Mine went up $1000 per year. No claims ever. Neighborhood has never had any problems.

I didn't this year (yet) but I have had that happen in the past. I wondered if the company just figured to raise the rates hoping I wouldn't notice. I just shopped around and got a much better rate elsewhere.

As I understand it, insurance companies are not allowed to have too high a % of their business in one area to protect them against going bankrupt in the event of a disaster in that area. It could be that then needed to reduce their exposure in the lowcountry and figured they'd just raise rates to both reduce their local customer base and keep the higher paying premiums. Just a theory, I don't know if it holds water.

[lizardspock]

Originally Posted by LocalHero

I didn't this year (yet) but I have had that happen in the past. I wondered if the company just figured to raise the rates hoping I wouldn't notice. I just shopped around and got a much better rate elsewhere.

As I understand it, insurance companies are not allowed to have too high a % of their business in one area to protect them against going bankrupt in the event of a disaster in that area. It could be that then needed to reduce their exposure in the lowcountry and figured they'd just raise rates to both reduce their local customer base and keep the higher paying premiums. Just a theory, I don't know if it holds water.

Could be. Sounds plausible. I called my broker as soon as I found out. Shopped around and found a policy with better coverage for less money. So I guess I should really thank Bankers for raising my annual premium over 50% with no warning. Haha.