Insurance Premiums Increase 130%?

[yippie]

The criteria is whether you are within 2,500 ft. of the water's edge. Most people are insured for replacement of their homes (plus contents) at the average cost of per sq. ft. construction. Obviously, this does not cover land costs, which are the biggest part of one's property value if you are near the water. I figure that the value of our house, which is a very large one, is about one-quarter of the overall value, with the land being the big nut. Of course, we don't know if land near the water will be as highly desirable as it has been historically if all these storms continue to ravage coastlines. My bet is that it will be, however, because there's only so much of it. We have watched coastlines erode and topple for years in CA and people are still bidding against each other to snap the land up. I know we wanted a house that at least had a very good view and reasonable proximity to the beach, or none at all. And we have had no damage at all, but for some storm surge on the ground floor and into the swimming pool during Ivan. A cleanup, but okay. Still worth it, for our nickel.

This is actually not the criteria. Each insurance company has their own criteria. Many will NOT insure anything South of Hwy 98. Some have the 1500 foot rule and others have the 1000 foot rule. Most will not write anything in the Destin or South Walton area south of Hwy 98 anymore, some won't write policies at all.

Insurance companies will ONLY pay up to the insured value of the house and contents, so if you bought your house 10 years ago and paid 175,000 (just a number thrown out) and your structure is still only valued at .. say 100,000, then think again on what you think you will collect.

Each year, I call my builder and ask him what it would cost to rebuild my house, and that is the new figure I give my agent for insurance. I didn't do that this year because the cost of homes has not appreciated as much as in the past.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Citizens Insurance has asked its Board to increase the avg rates 15.9% in Feb and an additional 48.4% later in 2006. :shock:

read article attached