FL Residents--Does it bother you that...

[ducklite]

Citizens Property Insurance, the insurer of last resort in Florida has the right to levy surcharges onto the other insurers in the state which will be passed on to consumers to offset theri losses from the hurricanes in 2004?

Homeowners with private insurance who had no claim will still be facing higher rates (up to $500 higher!) because of what is in essence a tax.

It really burns me that I have to pay to subsidize those who choose to live in mobile homes by the coast, etc. What it boils down to is taxation without representation. Rather than having an insurance pool, private insureres should be allowed to charge "going rates" to people based on their homes. If they can't pay the rate, that's too bad. Why on earth should the rest of us have to subsidize their choice of lifestyle?

Anne

 

[Aidensmom]

It's not just mobile home owners that get insured by Citizens....

But yes, my rates should be based on my claims, not on the claims of those that choose to live nearer to the coast. I live on the east side of Tampa, (but west of I-75), no where near the coast, and it is hard to find a private insurer for my particular area, and when you do, it is expensive. I am already paying very high rates and had no hurricane claims. It will kill me if rates are raised $500 based on others claims.

 

[stitch79]

Yes! Very irritating.

 

[DebbieB]

I work for a major company in Commercial Accounts and I know that many states have state taxes & surcharges that everyone pays, especially on Workers Compensation.

Isn't Citizens run by the state government? If they take a loss, it has to come from somewhere, they are not like a corporate insurance company.

 

[C.Ann]

Interesting..

I just heard some politician on the news suggesting that a 10% surcharge be applied to every taxpayer in the United States in order to pay for the damages caused by these two hurricanes..

One way or another, these hurricanes (and future hurricanes) will undoubtedly cost all of us..

 

[ducklite]

I work for a major company in Commercial Accounts and I know that many states have state taxes & surcharges that everyone pays, especially on Workers Compensation.

Isn't Citizens run by the state government? If they take a loss, it has to come from somewhere, they are not like a corporate insurance company.

yes, it is. The problem is that they should be surcharging those who they insure, not those who don't have a claim, and don't give a hoot about Citizen's. They should be charging high enough premiums to those they insure to have adequate reserves to cover catastrophies, and not expect the people who have the common sense to build high wind load rated homes to pick up the slack.

In NYS they ahve a high risk pool for car insurance for thsoe who can't get insurance from a private carrier. The people in the pool pay through the nose for insurance. If they can find private insurance for less, they are welcome to switch. They certainly don't expect every driver in the state to subsidize people with bad records.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

I work for a major company in Commercial Accounts and I know that many states have state taxes & surcharges that everyone pays, especially on Workers Compensation.

Workers comp is a different story. Regardless of how safe you are and the risk management steps your company takes, anyone could slip and fall on a wet floor, or have some type of true accident at work. Big difference.

Anne

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That sounds crazy.

Within your own insurance company--you do bear the consequence of their entire clientel. So while you choose to live in a safe area..the rates you pay do have a reflection on the whole country.

Our rates were low for quite a while....no hurricanes in Florida. All of a sudden in one your our premium doubled. Our insurer had to make up for all the wild fires out west. I forget which one...but the increase was within the past few years....before the 4-whammy.

I hate that with or without this surcharge--we'd see an increase anyway even though our home sustained no damage.

But as any other insurer who must raise rates to stay afloat, Citizen's should be no different.

 

[ducklite]

Interesting..

I just heard some politician on the news suggesting that a 10% surcharge be applied to every taxpayer in the United States in order to pay for the damages caused by these two hurricanes..

That burns me! I've already donated, and will donate more to help. But ai want the money to go to a non-profit who IMHO are a lot more accountable for their spending then the Federal Government.

The insurers are making BILLIONS every year, and if they don't have enough Cat reserves, then shame on the people who bought insurance through them to begin with. (It's not difficult to get AM Best ratings! The insurers should have had higher premiums to be able to have high enough reserves. And people without insurance, well, too bad, they are just stupid. If you can afford to own a home, you can afford hoemowners, otherwise you can't afford to own a home. Renters insurance is very inexpensive. When we rented before we bought our first home, I think we paid $80 a year for $30,000 in coverage.

Anne

 

[Luv2Roam]

I think we all expected rates would hike up. Heck, they do anyway.
After katrina I had heard that Americans could expect to pay up to an extra $1,000 per household in the next year for various increases due to Katrina. (Insurance, gas, price increases of building material, etc.)
And that was pre- Rita.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Yes it irritates me that the State of Florida set up this program, underfunded it by not charging enough and now wants the rest of us homeowners to make up the difference. If it was my insurance carrier with a shortfall I can understand paying more; I am not understanding of the State making non-policyholders pay for the difference.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I think we all expected rates would hike up. Heck, they do anyway.
After katrina I had heard that Americans could expect to pay up to an extra $1,000 per household in the next year for various increases due to Katrina. (Insurance, gas, price increases of building material, etc.)
And that was pre- Rita.

Like I said, I can understand my policy premium going up to support my insurance company, I do not understand paying into a program that does not protect me.

 

[ThAnswr]

That burns me! I've already donated, and will donate more to help. But ai want the money to go to a non-profit who IMHO are a lot more accountable for their spending then the Federal Government. Anne

A non-profit is more accountable than the Federal government? Other than you can keep your money in your wallet, when was the last time you were able to hold the head of the Red Cross accountable as to how they spent money?

OTOH, the Federal government is made up of Congressmen/women who you vote for every 2 years, Senators who you vote for every 6 years, and a president you get to vote for every 4 years. So why do you feel you don't have any control over how the federal government spends your money? You have the ultimate control......the vote.

 

[Qwackertoo]

Interesting..

I just heard some politician on the news suggesting that a 10% surcharge be applied to every taxpayer in the United States in order to pay for the damages caused by these two hurricanes..

One way or another, these hurricanes (and future hurricanes) will undoubtedly cost all of us..

I heard that and it just kills me to send all this money to the crooked politicians in LA who are too darn incompetent to spend what we've given them before.

Also, is this 10% going to be 10% of your gross income or another 10% of your tax liability, I'm guessing the latter.

I think we should ONLY give them money on a quarterly basis and they MUST be held accountable and provide proof of progress before they are given another red cent, IF not enough progress, no more money until they "earn" it by proving they are using the funds properly.

We've already approved 62 BILLION dollars, now Landriau and Vitter have introducted a 250 BILLION dollar package (does this cover AL and MS too or "just them"?) and now Blanco is demanding another 25 BILLION dollars to bring back evacuee's to house them in temporary housing in and near LA, she has made a couple of other DEMANDS too, like the Federal goverment should pay the salaries of all the fire, police and rescue people from LA too. The thought of turning over 250 BILLION dollars to this woman is beyond ridiculous.

Deana

 

[ducklite]

A non-profit is more accountable than the Federal government? Other than you can keep your money in your wallet, when was the last time you were able to hold the head of the Red Cross accountable as to how they spent money?

OTOH, the Federal government is made up of Congressmen/women who you vote for every 2 years, Senators who you vote for every 6 years, and a president you get to vote for every 4 years. So why do you feel you don't have any control over how the federal government spends your money? You have the ultimate control......the vote.

Non-profits have to provide accounting statements to the public upon request, actually more detailed than anything the Federal Government has to provide. Additionally, with a non-profit, if you do'nt like the way they spend their money, you don't have to donate. You don't have a choice with the feds, regardless of who you voted for.

Anne

 

[DebbieB]

So who is typically insured by Citizens? Is it middle and upper class people who choose to build expensive homes near the beach or poor people who can only afford a mobile home (which very few, if any, standard companies would insure)?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So who is typically insured by Citizens? Is it middle and upper class people who choose to build expensive homes near the beach or poor people who can only afford a mobile home (which very few, if any, standard companies would insure)?

No it is just in general anybody who cannot get there home insured.

My friend has used Citizen's--one of the most economical deals. She's 2 streets closer to the beach than I am.

However--it took a long while to get an adjustor...so you do get what you pay for.

They are middle class. She just put a pool in last summer, so I am confident they are not poor.

Many insurers no longer insure in Florida..or at the very least along the coast. So when you can find no one--or the ones you can find you have to pay out of the nose for..you get Citizens. I never knew it was the state of Florida insurance though.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Does anyone know if it is the entire homeowner's policy that Citizens provides..or just the hurricane coverage?

 

[Aidensmom]

Does anyone know if it is the entire homeowner's policy that Citizens provides..or just the hurricane coverage?

Pretty sure it is the entire policy.

 

[ducklite]

Does anyone know if it is the entire homeowner's policy that Citizens provides..or just the hurricane coverage?

It's the entire policy.

They are obviously not charing high enough premiums to have reserves high enough to equal the losses, and so are now passing it on to everyone, even those not covered by that company. I plan on writing my congressman.

I'm actually wondering if there are grounds for a class action suit.

Anne