Citizens Homeowners Insurance Inspection? (Miami, North Lauderdale: city hall, mortgage, credit)

[viread]

First off, I want to say hi to everybody. I lived in North Lauderdale (north Broward) for almost 13 years now, and with all the things Citizens is planning to do, I may need to relocate soon.
I recently received a letter from Citizens about sending an inspector to my house to reevaluate my windstorm mitigation credit. I know this is not a good thing. Not that we did anything wrong, but our last windstorm mitigation inspection was done in 2008 by a private company we hired, and we got credit for the aluminum hurricane shutters and the roof. We live in a townhouse, 3 bed 2.5 bath, with the covered dwelling of 162,500 for a premium of $1629. I already thought that was about the price it should be in South Florida, for a house worth probably $45K in the real market. Now looking again at our policy, our mitigation credit is $1844! From reading the news from the internet, it sounds like the past couple years the laws have changed, and all of a sudden nothing is good enough anymore, and as if we are cheating the system. In other words, Citizens is ready to say ********* and raise premiums through the roof.
The inspector has not come yet, and I already contemplating dropping Citizens, but then who else do I go with. I am just here to share my story (sorry, one of those lonely nights ). Has anybody here been knocked on the door yet, and what happened? Did anybody do anything to prepare for the visit to at least soften the blow (though I think the outcome is inevitable)? Very interested to hear your comments!

[theredsnowman]

Originally Posted by viread

First off, I want to say hi to everybody. I lived in North Lauderdale (north Broward) for almost 13 years now, and with all the things Citizens is planning to do, I may need to relocate soon.
I recently received a letter from Citizens about sending an inspector to my house to reevaluate my windstorm mitigation credit. I know this is not a good thing. Not that we did anything wrong, but our last windstorm mitigation inspection was done in 2008 by a private company we hired, and we got credit for the aluminum hurricane shutters and the roof. We live in a townhouse, 3 bed 2.5 bath, with the covered dwelling of 162,500 for a premium of $1629. I already thought that was about the price it should be in South Florida, for a house worth probably $45K in the real market. Now looking again at our policy, our mitigation credit is $1844! From reading the news from the internet, it sounds like the past couple years the laws have changed, and all of a sudden nothing is good enough anymore, and as if we are cheating the system. In other words, Citizens is ready to say ********* and raise premiums through the roof.
The inspector has not come yet, and I already contemplating dropping Citizens, but then who else do I go with. I am just here to share my story (sorry, one of those lonely nights ). Has anybody here been knocked on the door yet, and what happened? Did anybody do anything to prepare for the visit to at least soften the blow (though I think the outcome is inevitable)? Very interested to hear your comments!

After the inspection, you should prepare for your rates to increase dramatically. You have been targeted for a reason; please thank Rick Scott who thinks your situation is very funny. I’m certain the only thing that could make you situation funnier to Rick Scott would be if you had cancer as well. Good Luck.

[viread]

I am sure Rick Scott got a lot of laugh nowadays. Which makes me think, at what rate is it reasonable to insure a $40-60K house? We are done with our mortgage now, should I drop the homeowners insurance and just save the money to move my sorry self out of Florida? That is again a funny scene to Rick...

[danslalune]

If your house is paid for, you do not need insurance at all. The banks force us to have insurance. You may want to stick to the liability insurance. Nowadays, it would be a good move... Good luck

[tankev]

We bought our house in Broward Co. in 2008. July of 2011 Universal said they would reinspect due to the changes in the Wind Mitigation laws. Our insurance went up over $2000.00 due to the fact that we now are not considered to have a HIP roof (50% of the roof has to be HIP whereas before it was 10%) and our hurricane shutters are not up to code. (They do not have the Dade County stamp on them). This is all due to the changes in the mitigation form. We shopped around for Insurance and Citizens was the least expensive. two months after switching Citizens said they needed to reinspect even though we sent the new inspection form to them. The same company and the same inspector came to my home to inspect for the second time. I figured everything would be fine. What could be different in 6 months?Yesterday I received a bill from Citizens for another $600.00 for our policy. There was no information as to what this was for, just a bill. You can bet I'll be calling today for answers.
I am so fed up!

[SierraDog]

Originally Posted by tankev

We bought our house in Broward Co. in 2008. July of 2011 Universal said they would reinspect due to the changes in the Wind Mitigation laws. Our insurance went up over $2000.00 due to the fact that we now are not considered to have a HIP roof (50% of the roof has to be HIP whereas before it was 10%) and our hurricane shutters are not up to code. (They do not have the Dade County stamp on them). This is all due to the changes in the mitigation form. We shopped around for Insurance and Citizens was the least expensive. two months after switching Citizens said they needed to reinspect even though we sent the new inspection form to them. The same company and the same inspector came to my home to inspect for the second time. I figured everything would be fine. What could be different in 6 months?Yesterday I received a bill from Citizens for another $600.00 for our policy. There was no information as to what this was for, just a bill. You can bet I'll be calling today for answers.
I am so fed up!

Citizens has been reinspecting everyone. We too had our credits for storm shutters basically deleted, as the shutters date from the late 90s and the sticker is no longer there (shocking, that a sticker would not be stuck to the shutters after 13 years. . . )
My assistant said the same thing happened for her, they had to have another inspection, and lost their credits, resulting in a $1000 increase (at least) in their bill.

[Nolefan34]

Can everyone who voted for Rick Scott now admit that they are sorry? Why did anyone vote for this guy? He told you what he was going to do before he was elected. The only people to blame are yourselves.

[Dragonmam]

SierraDog,

Option One: check your shutters. Even if they had the sticker, they wouldn't pass on them alone, BUT, if they were in fact approved, each shutter should have a stamp (into the metal) that says "Miami-Dade County Product Control Approved." On mine the stamp runs vertically along the raised ridges.

Option Two: If you properly permitted your shutters, pull the paperwork at city hall and it will have to include the product approval.

Option Three: Go to My Safe Florida Home


There are two links on that page that will take you to websites where you can research whether your shutters ever had the Notice of Acceptance (product approval) in order for a manufacturer to claim that they are code approved.

I am willing to bet that these reinspectors know these requirements. If they don't, they really shouldn't be inspectors. They are not there to help the homeowner, they are there to make money for the insurance company. I don't know if they get a percentage (how unscrupulous that would be!) but logic dictates that if they want to keep the work coming in, they are gong to have to nit-pick and make up nonsense like "the sticker is missing."

[SierraDog]

I know I am resurrecting an older thread here, but I just had to point out the irony of the following, which I found when I clicked on the "My Safe Florida Home" link:


Thank you for your interest in the My Safe Florida Home program.

Due to budget constraints, the My Safe Florida Home program expired on June 30, 2009.

If you have resources available, we encourage you to take steps to protect yourself and your property against hurricane damage. The first step is pursuing a wind inspection to identify how you can strengthen your home or determine if you are eligible for discounts on your wind insurance.


Thanks, Rick Scott

[SouthAfrica75]

Originally Posted by SierraDog

I know I am resurrecting an older thread here, but I just had to point out the irony of the following, which I found when I clicked on the "My Safe Florida Home" link:


Thank you for your interest in the My Safe Florida Home program.

Due to budget constraints, the My Safe Florida Home program expired on June 30, 2009.

If you have resources available, we encourage you to take steps to protect yourself and your property against hurricane damage. The first step is pursuing a wind inspection to identify how you can strengthen your home or determine if you are eligible for discounts on your wind insurance.


Thanks, Rick Scott

Rick Scott had NOTHING to do with it !!!!!

Program expired in June 2009..... Rick Scott only became Governor of Florida in January 2011