Insurance Notifications "Heads Up"

[Beach Runner]

I feel for you guys. Three weeks after Hurricane Ivan, my insurance increased 85% on my home. I had no damage. The Insurance company needed more money to pay out to the homeowners who did sustain damage.

Beach Runner, that luxury of being south of 30-A so that you don't have to carry your stuff too far, does come at a cost. To get insurance, search for a home farther inland.

I'd rather sell it and rent it from the new owner than lose the convenience of being south of 30-A.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I'd rather sell it and rent it from the new owner than lose the convenience of being south of 30-A.

Now that is an idea.

 

[TooFarTampa]

We are in the Citizens wind pool and our wind premium doubled this year. We did have damage from Ivan but as noted above, many others who didn't were hit with such increases. Citizens is by law required to charge more than any other company, and most of its premiums have gone up 80 to 100 percent in the past year.

Citizens is terrible (they just don't have it together --it would take too long to list all the issues) but it is most people's only choice these days if you're along 30-A. We are on the north side, and we may not get out of the wind pool for five years or more.

Donna and BR, I would get a firm premium amount from your agent ASAP. Not to freak you out further, but our Citizens wind premium alone went up from $1800/year to $3600/year upon renewal in August.

 

[margareteileen]

Wait until you hear this one...Last September while Ivan was in the Gulf of Mexico, our insurance was canceled up at our river house. Our mortgage company required insurance so...we ponied up for a big bucks policy - the only one we could get. After those funds passed hands, insurance company number one informs us that the state wouldn't let them cancel us, we are still insured with them and if we don't pay them back the premium refund we had already cashed - they'd put us in collection.

We had to straighten them out. I'm happy to report no weapons were drawn.

Meanwhile, we were stuck with ridiculously expensive insurance because insurance company one was going to close out of Florida at the first opportunity. Ay-yi-yi.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Wait until you hear this one...Last September while Ivan was in the Gulf of Mexico, our insurance was canceled up at our river house. Our mortgage company required insurance so...we ponied up for a big bucks policy - the only one we could get. After those funds passed hands, insurance company number one informs us that the state wouldn't let them cancel us, we are still insured with them and if we don't pay them back the premium refund we had already cashed - they'd put us in collection.

We had to straighten them out. I'm happy to report no weapons were drawn.

Meanwhile, we were stuck with ridiculously expensive insurance because insurance company one was going to close out of Florida at the first opportunity. Ay-yi-yi.

Those little b*stards! They would have a (mental) brick thrown through there window, if it were up to me.

 

[Beach Runner]

We are in the Citizens wind pool and our wind premium doubled this year. We did have damage from Ivan but as noted above, many others who didn't were hit with such increases. Citizens is by law required to charge more than any other company, and most of its premiums have gone up 80 to 100 percent in the past year.

Citizens is terrible (they just don't have it together --it would take too long to list all the issues) but it is most people's only choice these days if you're along 30-A. We are on the north side, and we may not get out of the wind pool for five years or more.

Donna and BR, I would get a firm premium amount from your agent ASAP. Not to freak you out further, but our Citizens wind premium alone went up from $1800/year to $3600/year upon renewal in August.

Thanks for the advice.

My husband is about to whomp up on the insurance company. He's 6'8" and 270 pounds, and he uses his size as a negotiation tool. It works. Once he went to Germany to buy a piece of textile machinery for a couple of hundred thousand. By the end of the visit, he had purchased the entire company for that amount. His company has profited on multiple occasions by his mental (perfect score on the SATs on multiple occasions) and physical skills. So, yes, he has made me feel confident that he will whomp up on the blanking insurance company.

 

[TooFarTampa]

Wow. He sounds scary. Is this what you envision?

 

[Beach Runner]

Wow. He sounds scary. Is this what you envision?

If that's what it takes, he can take care of it. We're not willing to sit back and let some slimebucket insurance sompany mistreat us without a fight.

 

[Dabell]

:funn: :funn:

My Homeowner's went up starting Jan 1st $3480
this year it was $2700
taxes also went up to 1,800 from 1,200
this mean I will be paying over 5k a year before the lights go on! I guees people will have to raise rentals.

 

[TooFarTampa]

One other note: Whoever your insurer is, if you have a hipped roof (four sides like a little pointy cap), make sure it is noted on your wind policy. If you have a hipped roof and your policy states "gabled roof" you deserve and should be able to get a nice discount and/or refund.

I told Citizens (actually our agent) many times when we purchased that our house had a hipped roof, and even emailed photos. But Citizens recorded it as gabled roof and I did not catch it until the policy came up for renewal. Not only did it reduce our renewal premium from $4250 to about $3600, we got a check back from last year's policy. Total refund was over $1,000 -- eased the pain a little.

I say this only because so many homes in the area (most?) now have hipped roofs, which provide much better protection in hurricanes than a gabled roof. Hence the discount. Make sure you are given credit in writing on your policy for all construction upgrades!