Cancelling Plans

[beachmouse]

All homeowner's/property insurance policies here have a different deductable set-up for hurricanes. Instead of, say, a $500 deductable for damage, hurricane deductables are a percentage of value. 2-3% of insured value is typical for that sort of deductable, but some policies may be 5% or 10% instead.

Which, considering the value of a lot of beach homes/condos these days, ends up being a good chunk of change.

There are also things you need to do for storms that aren't covered by your policy. After Ivan, we spent $2,000 on tree removal, but only about $200 of that counted toward the deductable (removing the tree that actually fell on our garage) and the rest of that was whacking some pine trees that were damaged but still standing, and really needed to be taken down for safety reasons. But preventitive measures don't count toward deductables.

 

[Travel2Much]

Please explain more about the insurance. Are you saying you can not get insurance for the full value of the house and contents in the Panhandle beach area?

For wind damage, some houses simply are uninsurable, depending on age (pre-Andrew building codes) & location (gulf front, yards from gulf). Some houses are insurable, but you have to shop around. Some houses the insurance cost is so high as to make buying insurance impossible.

There is a state program for "uninsurable" properties but I am not in the wind pool.

In any case, there is a hurricane deductible that is quite substantial.

Wind insurance won't cover flooding.

Then, of course, even if you get insurance any day you can get a letter cancelling it. Just happened to my brother in Orlando.

I have 2 modest houses in 2 hurricane states. You would not believe my insurance costs. You also wouldn't believe the annual premium rises.

 

[phdphay]

Please explain more about the insurance. Are you saying you can not get insurance for the full value of the house and contents in the Panhandle beach area?

Well, first of all my previous insurance company went bankrupt after Ivan to avoid paying claims. Thank goodness we had no damage. The coverage with the new company wasn't great, but every insurance agent we talked to said to take what we could get. Some agencies weren't even accepting new customers after Ivan. And secondly, the word from my insurance agent is that it will be next to impossible to insure a new construction south of 30-A after these storms. Thirdly, there are so many loopholes in the insurance policies that the insurance company can challenge, for example, the source of water damage, and depending on what it decides, you might not be covered. Thus, insurance coverage here is tenuous at best.

 

[karen]

Janet.
Would like to hear more about the shutters. Thanks!

 

[dusty]

Does that mean that the first 2-3 percent of any damage in a hurricane is your deductible? Or is there one threshold for the building and another one for the contents?

If it is all in one, I can understand that looking at $8000-12,000 out of pocket for the deductible is stressful...the tree removal you could have most anywhere, like here in the midwest with heavy storms and tornados.

I have been trying to figure out what you need if you own a property down there--because I have toying with the idea for several years of buying down there -- seems like you need:

1) hurricane insurance
2) deductible $$ kitty (the $8-12k)
3) another $$ kitty for general maintenance including boarding the house and removing the boards
4) $$ kitty for interior maintenance and furnishings if you are renting
5) For renting: rental web site, cleaning agency, and property manangement
6) a plan for what you are going to do in case of a hurricane--how does the home get boarded up, who puts the patio furniture away, who unboards the house, etc.

With price escalation the last two years it seems like rents do not cover enough expenses.

 

[Travel2Much]

I just looked at my insurance policy for non-FL house, and the hurricane deductible is 2% of the coverage limit. That is the insured's part of loss, and dwelling and personal property are aggregated. So, let's say you have a 400k coverage amount (a modest amount not covering rebuilding costs for many houses), with $50k damage to roof/windows and 10k in personal dwelling loss. That's 60k in total loss. Your deductible is 8k (2% of coverage).

2% is pretty darn good.

Try and get that 52k out of some insurance companies. I hear people in Pensacola still haven't been paid. Lots of em.

 

[dusty]

.

Try and get that 52k out of some insurance companies. I hear people in Pensacola still haven't been paid. Lots of em.

That is shocking, just shocking. And you know the insurance company is making $$ with the money they collected from the people who are waiting. Grrr. Did you know that insurance companies also buy insurance on the policies they write? It is called reinsurance. Insurance. Don't know whether it is a racket or whether I should buy stock in the companies since they obviously know how to make $$!

 

[phdphay]

Rent doesn't cover expenses. The rental season starts Memorial Day and ends in early August, thanks to schools starting in early August instead of after Labor Day like in the old days (which has really hurt the tourism industry). We get a few weeks of rentals during spring break. So basically we figure 10 weeks in the summer (minus what we use) plus a couple of weeks during spring break. We save money because we live close enough to do our own landscape maintenance, and my husband has a Ph.D. in engineering, so he is very adept at doing repair work, saving a boatload of money not being at the mercy of others.

We own because we hope that the increase in property values will help us in the long term and, more importantly, WE LOVE THIS PLACE! We are blessed.

 

[dusty]

P.S. Thanks, everyone for the insurance education.

 

[Travel2Much]

That is shocking, just shocking. And you know the insurance company is making $$ with the money they collected from the people who are waiting. Grrr. Did you know that insurance companies also buy insurance on the policies they write? It is called reinsurance. Insurance. Don't know whether it is a racket or whether I should buy stock in the companies since they obviously know how to make $$!

Last week I read in one of the SoWal papers that Allstate declared a record year for profits last year (despite the four hurricanes in FL), had cancelled many thousands of policies in FL, and jacked up premiums 28% on many others.

FL actually is better than other hurricane states as far as insurance regulation goes. I fear the day I get my insurance bills.