Homeowner's Insurance -Questions Forum

InsuranceGuruInsuranceGuruBeach ComberWestchester, New York29 postsJoined Oct 19, '07View profile MessageBeach Comber

Oct 19, '07 · 1:10 PM11,887

Hello everyone,

My name is Adam Gurdus and I have been helping a number of people in the South Walton area recently with their insurance needs. I wanted to set up a forum for those who have questions about their personal insurance. Please feel free to ask away and I will do my best to assist and answer your questions. If you would like to reach me personally, I can be reached via email at: adamgurdus@mogil.com[/EMAIL">adamgurdus@mogil.com"]adamgurdus@mogil.com and by phone at 203-661-8126.

Below, please find a few tips for reducing the cost of your homeowner's insurance policy:

1) Increase your deductible- By making the decision to increase your own personal exposure from a $1,000 deductible on your homeowner's policy to a $5,000 deductible, significant savings can be achieved. By making this change, you are saying that in the event of a loss, you will cover the first $5,000 of damage and the insurance company would be responsible for the remainder. Normally, this change will save between 10% and 20% on the annual policy premium.

2) Review your contents coverage- Many times, insurance companies automatically set a value on the contents of the home without actually inquiring with you first. Insurers will normally use 70% of the insured value of the home for the "contents" value on the policy. For a $1,000,000 home, there would be an automatic value of $700,000 of contents. For some, this amount of contents may seem a bit excessive. If that is the case, you have the ability to reduce the amount of contents insurance on your policy. By reducing contents to $350,000 the insured would save at least a few hundred dollars on their policy.

3) Add a Fire & Burglar alarm- By adding a central station fire & burglar alarm, you will take 5%-10% right off the top of the insurance premium. Many times, the savings from having such alarms will be enough to pay for the servicing of the alarm annually.

4) Review your hurricane deductible- BE CAREFUL HERE. By increasing the percentage of your hurricane deductible from say 2% to 5% you can achieve savings on your homeowner's windstorm/hurricane policy. By doing so, you significantly increase the amount of exposure you have. For example, by changing your deductible from 2% to 5% on a $1,000,000 home, the deductible would increase from $20,000 to $50,000. Meaning that you would be responsible for the first $50,000 in a claim situation that arose from a hurricane or windstorm.

Hopefully some of you find this information helpful in reducing your insurance costs.

Replies

SHELLY

SHELLYSoWal Insider5,763 postsJoined Jun 13, '05View profile MessageSoWal Insider

Dec 19, '07 · 1:14 AM#27

No, Shelly. That is not the way I work. I have a wonderful relationship with my bank and I don't want to risk that.

I'm assuming the bank has more equity tied up in your home than you do (assuming that the bank holds the note, which is doubtful). If you can't get insurance, and the loan documents specifically state you've gotta insure the property (which I'm sure it does) then they should assist in helping you track some down--granted, you might not like the rate--if you've got a wonderful relationship with them, take the insurance problem to them.

.

yippieyippieBeach FanaticA local946 postsJoined Oct 28, '05View profile MessageBeach Fanatic

Dec 19, '07 · 6:46 AM#28

I'm assuming the bank has more equity tied up in your home than you do (assuming that the bank holds the note, which is doubtful). If you can't get insurance, and the loan documents specifically state you've gotta insure the property (which I'm sure it does) then they should assist in helping you track some down--granted, you might not like the rate--if you've got a wonderful relationship with them, take the insurance problem to them.

.

Already there. We are working on it. Shelly, the bank holds my note. Why would you say it is doubtful? And why would you say the bank has more equity than I do? It is my home, I bought it 13 years ago and have equity in the house. The bank doesn't have the equity, they don't own the house.

rapunzel

rapunzelBeach FanaticPoint Washington2,514 postsJoined Nov 30, '05View profile MessageBeach Fanatic

Dec 19, '07 · 8:20 AM#29

A question for the Insurance Guru -- is there any advise you can give people looking to buy a home in the area regarding the cost of insurance on various properties? The cost of insuring a house is almost as important as the cost of the house itself, but I feel like we can only make wild guesses about what that number would be. It makes it almost impossible to compare houses, because really the cost of owning a home is the price of the house + the price of insuring the house, and we can only know one of those numbers.

NotDeadYet NotDeadYet avatar

NotDeadYetBeach Fanatic1,416 postsJoined Jul 7, '07View profile MessageBeach Fanatic

Dec 19, '07 · 8:23 AM#30

Yippie, Citizens won't insure it either? I thought they were required to insure properties that nobody else would. :confused:

What a mess. Wish I knew how to help. :bang:

yippieyippieBeach FanaticA local946 postsJoined Oct 28, '05View profile MessageBeach Fanatic

Dec 19, '07 · 9:27 AM#31

Yippie, Citizens won't insure it either? I thought they were required to insure properties that nobody else would. :confused:

What a mess. Wish I knew how to help. :bang:

Yes, it is a mess. The property is considered damaged. No one will insure a damaged structure. Especially when it is vacant.

InsuranceGuruInsuranceGuruBeach ComberWestchester, New York29 postsJoined Oct 19, '07View profile MessageBeach ComberAuthor

Dec 19, '07 · 11:04 AM#32

Hey Yippie,

The bank should be able to obtain insurance for you, although the premium is guaranteed to be significantly more than your Nationwide policy. When was the mold issue first recognized? And, it has been confirmed to be a result of contractor error?

InsuranceGuruInsuranceGuruBeach ComberWestchester, New York29 postsJoined Oct 19, '07View profile MessageBeach ComberAuthor

Dec 19, '07 · 11:11 AM#33

A question for the Insurance Guru -- is there any advise you can give people looking to buy a home in the area regarding the cost of insurance on various properties? The cost of insuring a house is almost as important as the cost of the house itself, but I feel like we can only make wild guesses about what that number would be. It makes it almost impossible to compare houses, because really the cost of owning a home is the price of the house + the price of insuring the house, and we can only know one of those numbers.

Hi Rapunzel,

The major factors that determine the insurability of a home are the age, type of construction, distance to water, elevation, and general security.

If you could provide a few details on the houses I would be able to provide some rough estimates for you. My contact info can be found in the first post, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

InsuranceGuruInsuranceGuruBeach ComberWestchester, New York29 postsJoined Oct 19, '07View profile MessageBeach ComberAuthor

Dec 19, '07 · 11:34 AM#34

Why do they differentiate between primary & secondary? Do they figure if it's primary there will be better maintenance and storm prep? :idontno:

I know I'd rather take shelter in a 70s block house that has survived many a storm than an untested wood frame house built during the recent frenzy.

The major differentiantion for secondary residences is who is occupying the dwelling (or in many secondary home cases, who isn't). No insurance company really wants to insure a vacant property. The risk of a claim on a vacant property is significantly higher as the time to respond can be delayed if no one is around to witness the damage. Therefore, some companies choose not to insure them. Although, you can see if moving other policies to the insurer (i.e. collections, umbrella, yacht, auto) might entice them to try and assist you.

The specifications of the home may also prevent the insurer from taking your insurance on. If your primary was built in 1999 but the secondary was built in 1978, the Ins Co figures that the quality of construction of the 1978 home is mediocre (even though it may have survived 10 storms) due to the changes in Florida's construction codes over the years.

yippieyippieBeach FanaticA local946 postsJoined Oct 28, '05View profile MessageBeach Fanatic

Dec 19, '07 · 5:51 PM#35

Hey Yippie,

The bank should be able to obtain insurance for you, although the premium is guaranteed to be significantly more than your Nationwide policy. When was the mold issue first recognized? And, it has been confirmed to be a result of contractor error?

The bank can get insurance on the mortgage, but not the structure. It insures them, but if the house blew down, they would come looking for me.

The mold issue was first recognized after hurricane Dennis, July 2005. It was reported to the builder then.

The house is in litigation. Nationwide will not pay a claim, they do not cover contractors errors. Since the house is now in court, everyone is denying everything and trying to blame, for example a new roof that was put on the house 4 months after I reported the mold. It's just a nightmare.

scooterbug44 scooterbug44 avatar

scooterbug44SoWal ExpertSowal16,706 postsJoined May 8, '07View profile MessageSoWal Expert

Dec 19, '07 · 5:57 PM#36

The major differentiantion for secondary residences is who is occupying the dwelling (or in many secondary home cases, who isn't). No insurance company really wants to insure a vacant property. The risk of a claim on a vacant property is significantly higher as the time to respond can be delayed if no one is around to witness the damage. Therefore, some companies choose not to insure them. Although, you can see if moving other policies to the insurer (i.e. collections, umbrella, yacht, auto) might entice them to try and assist you.

Could you skirt this by having a full-time "caretaker" who sublets?

InsuranceGuruInsuranceGuruBeach ComberWestchester, New York29 postsJoined Oct 19, '07View profile MessageBeach ComberAuthor

Dec 20, '07 · 9:12 AM#37

Could you skirt this by having a full-time "caretaker" who sublets?

It changes the situation around a little. The house is now considered "occupied" and most importantly not designated as "vacant". Although, the property is not "owner occuped" which has a different rating that companies are more inclined to write Having a full-time occupant could change the rating around enough to make the difference in your insurer's ability to write the policy.

Extra security measures in place at the home (back-up generator; superior construction; hurricane doors windows, etc.) can also help your cause so be sure to inform the agent.

InsuranceGuruInsuranceGuruBeach ComberWestchester, New York29 postsJoined Oct 19, '07View profile MessageBeach ComberAuthor

Jan 10, '08 · 9:12 AM#38

Current State of Affairs in FL Home Insurance

Please find the following articles regarding the state of affairs of homeowner's insurance in Florida:

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/01/07/daily36.html

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080109/SS04/801090375/1075

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-insure0708jan07,0,1787810.story

This one I am sure a couple of you can relate to:

http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.asp?a=top_lh&neID=200801061180.3.165_7f000000001f346d

drsvelte

drsvelteBeach FanaticSandestin & Red Stick305 postsJoined Jul 12, '05View profile MessageBeach Fanatic

Jan 10, '08 · 10:28 AM#39

We were notified last week that State Farm will no longer insure our home in Sandestin. We were told that we will be picked up by Citizen's and the premium will be about the same. Anyone else insure with State Farm?