Homeowner's Insurance

Hi Everyone,
We are looking for a compeitive rate on homeowner's insurance for our new home in WaterColor. We are closing on June 5. Who are the major players in the area? What types of coverage do you recommend vs. what is not really necessary.

Thanks!

Hope this helps - this is Florida state site, not a 3rd party -

Compare Homeowner's Insurance Rates

You may want to check out ambest.com to check out insurance company ratings. This will give you a good idea of the company's financial health.

Good luck. Almost every co outside citizens is a very small company and many are low balling rates to get business.Will many of these smaller co's pay the claims when the big one hits? I've had state farm in my state for 30 years so it was a shock dealing with these no name co's.

Hi All - looking for some help here...
I'm looking at homeowners policies today and trying to make a decision. I have quotes from Olympus Insurance Company, Bankers Insurance Co., Florida Peninsula Ins. Co., and Geovera Specialty Ins. Co. (which used to be called USF&G). Has anyone had any positive/negative experiences with any of these companies? I need to make a decision today and I'm trying to do as much research as possible. Thanks.

Hi All - looking for some help here...
I'm looking at homeowners policies today and trying to make a decision. I have quotes from Olympus Insurance Company, Bankers Insurance Co., Florida Peninsula Ins. Co., and Geovera Specialty Ins. Co. (which used to be called USF&G). Has anyone had any positive/negative experiences with any of these companies? I need to make a decision today and I'm trying to do as much research as possible. Thanks.

Have you gotten a quote from Universal Property and Casualty? They are/were number 4 in the state last time I checked. Bankers is good but underwriting is a pain in the butt. Geovera is a surplus lines company (good but they're not backed by the states guarantee fund). Olympus is good, it's a branch of St. Johns Insurance. Haven't heard of Florida Peninsula. I'm an insurance agent here. Hope this helps. If you have anymore questions you can email me at insureitall@knology.net

Good Luck,
Casey

We have Florida Peninsula for wind insurance. They got a lot of press a couple of years ago because they were able to siphon a bunch of policies from Citizens (like ours) and then charged outrageously high rates in 2006-07 thanks to a loophole in the state law. Once the loophole was closed the rates went way down. We pay about a third now of what we paid at the peak. :roll:

I have absolutely no idea if they will provide decent service when/if a storm damages our home. That is the concern. I have thought about looking around but the rate is pretty good, and to be honest there is no telling which if any of these newer or smaller companies would do a decent job, and no one else is available to us other than Citizens.

When we first bought our home we had Citizens. We had damages from Ivan and it took four months -- FOUR MONTHS! -- for them to send someone out because they were so overwhelmed. We obviously had to get the repairs done before anyone from the insurance company could come out. They did pay, but it was a nightmare. The kind where you call every other day and then after months go by, have an absolute meltdown on the phone and THEN you get attention. My advice: Have your meltdown early.

All of the above is for wind coverage, by the way. Hazard insurance and flood are often separate for homes in SoWal. I have ASI for hazard and think it's just fine.

Thanks for all the help. I ended up staying with Geovera. While they are not backed by the state, they are an independent company that has been around for a long time. I read through past years financial reports and they seemed to be well capatalized and have their risk spread out among different states and types of coverage. Goodness knows if I made the right decision - I hope I never have to call in a claim to find out.

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Our wind policy will not be renewed through Citizens (ends Oct. 31st) and our hazard policy comes due at same time.

We would like to obtain quotes. Do you folks recommend just contacting some of the companies mentioned above or going through independent agents?

Mike Hardiman, Santa Rosa Beach (Allstate) could only set us up through Citizens back in 2003.

I get the feeling we may actually have other options?



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Call Term Brokers
(850) 864-2000
Jana McDonald

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Anybody had experiences with Citizen's claims or Universal Property & Casualty?


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Something to remember about these well known insurance companies. State Farm supposedly screwed many homeowners in Mississippi after Katrina, by refusing to pay. Just because a company is large and well known, with good finances, doesn't mean much. Why? Because they also have more policy holders. While that may work well for regular hazards such as the occasional fire or tree going through the roof, when a natural disaster such as a hurricane strikes, or heaven forbid, multiple hurricane strikes throughout the entire state in a given year, they will have tremendous payout to make, and suddenly, they may not look so good financially, and bankruptcy could also be in play, just to keep them afloat.

On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, these small companies may offer low rates, but may not be there to pay out if a major natural disaster strikes.

The best insurance is to build a solid house with 140mph rated windows and doors, hip roof with light slope and little overhang, cement-fiber siding, building above flood area, and not on a sand dune overlooking the beach below. I know it isn't the type of insurance you can buy, but it building to withstand disasters, is taking insurance.

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Well SJ, my home is already built so I'm dealing with what I have and so far the 2 companies mentioned seem to be the choices that are on the radar of the agents with whom I have spoken. Just wondering if anybody has had claims with either. I have taken note of TFT's previous experience w/Citizens.

And my opinion of State Farm after Katrina certainly changed.

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I understand. I would hope that most of even these smaller companies will be able to pay on hazard, such as a particular property being damaged. However, if most of their policy holders are concentrated and have a major catastrophe such as a big hurricane hit, Lord help us all.

rita i just went threw the process you are going threw. i'm a former ins agent and very diligent in my analysis of co's. i have had state farm in my state for 30 years and feel secure with them. when buying in fla i was shocked at the choices of no name very small co's of which many have been in business for 2-4 years(many came in after the big hurricaines). i got around 20 quotes and analysed each co. most of the co's you mention like universal only have 20-40k total policyholders which is miniscule.I CALLED THE STATE INS DEPT AND THEY TOLD ME ALL LICENSED CARRIES ARE BACK STOPPED UP TO 300K PER CLAIM. maybe somebody can verify this as no agent i talked to knew much about this. many of the smaller carriers had by far the cheapest rates. if your home was built before 2003 good luck as the rates are 2-3 times higher as thats when the new hurricaine building codes came in.after much research i went with citizens for wind and asi who's a good size co with 300k policyholders for wind. total it was around 1k more but my first year owning i wanted some piece of mind. but now with rates skying in 2010 i'll have to shop around again.as the previous poster said its all a huge gamble as very very few of these co's have been hurricaine tested.it looks like owners will ahve to be shopping yearly for ins. what a pain

.....I CALLED THE STATE INS DEPT AND THEY TOLD ME ALL LICENSED CARRIES ARE BACK STOPPED UP TO 300K PER CLAIM. maybe somebody can verify this as no agent i talked to knew much about this. many of the smaller carriers had by far the cheapest rates.....

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ray, would you clarify what you mean here. And our home was built in 2003 so as I understand it we have the deduction for hurricane straps automatically, without having to have a contractor or inspector sign off on it.

TY for your input.

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rita most states back the insurance co's that write business in there state for policies like life and annuities. so if a company goes under the state takes them over and covers the claims till they find a co to buy the policies. BUT THE COVERAGE IS LIMITED TO 100-300KK PER POLICY. i was very concerned about the small size of most of the co's writing in fla so i called the ins dept to see what would happend if one of these co's went bankrupt if hit with huge hurricaine claims. the lady told me they would cover up to 300k per policy if an an insurer went under.i grilled many agents and they knew almost nothing about it which shocked me.i'm pretty confident the state has to backstop these co's BUT I'D LIKE SOME CONFIRMATION FROM ANY AGENTS OR KNOWLEGABLE PEOPLE ON THIS BOARD.but again even if these small co's backstopped and they go under with claims it could take years to get paid by the state.this reminds me of the hot potatoe game i played for 10 years with health ins coverage for my family . rate increases of 20-40% every year and i'd have to raise deductibles and shop every other year. a pain in the but.

seems Citizens Insurance would like to have Southern Oaks assume our policy if we accept the transfer. Anyone know anything about Southern Oaks Insurance?

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why did citizens drop you? i have citizens and asi and i was shocked when i got my renewal from citizens the other day and it only went up 3%. i was preparing for a 10-20% increase and was going to shop it but i think i'll just stay for the next year

why did citizens drop you? i have citizens and asi and i was shocked when i got my renewal from citizens the other day and it only went up 3%. i was preparing for a 10-20% increase and was going to shop it but i think i'll just stay for the next year

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They didn't drop us - are just wanting some to be assumed by Southern Oaks (State backed).

are you in a flood plain? if not there are many good co's. universal is a good and big co and i got a quote last year and they were much cheaper than citizens. it all depends on the risk. if your home is over 750k it gets tricky. if your home was built before 2003 its much more expensive

For us the Universal Property & Casualty quote was higher for less coverage than Citizens. We are not in flood plain, not built before 2003, not over 750, but we are within half mile of Gulf.
I am just curious if anyone has any knowledge of Southern Oaks Co. - Our rate will stay the same with them (though they may stick it to us next year if we go with them)

My understanding is that Citizens is trying to push many people away from Citizens, but there are rules by which they must play, that they are not sharing with you. I'm not in the insurance business, but I know that they are not telling you all you should know. Citizens will insure you if no one else will. There are other factors where they will provide coverage, but I cannot recall the details. Do some research. Google is your friend.

Anyone have any experience with (or info about) Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company other than what was said below?

On this topic... would you guys recommend buying flood insurance if you're in zone "X"? We've never purchased by the coast before and I'm not sure if it's necessary. I've gone on the Geo site and under no "foreseeable" circumstances does it show the property which we are considering to be flooded. The home is on pilings. What do you guys recommend?.. or what have those who own homes in the area decided to do?

yes i would buy flood ins no matter what. its only $300 or so and better to be safe than sorry. i think universal is a fairly big company . but as i recall for rental units they were tougher to get ins.