Paying for home owners insurance in Florida

[SL6827]

We're asking ourselves the same question. Our insurer became insolvent and left the state a few months ago. We had an open claim (only time ever filing a claim in 25 years of home ownership). Because of the open claim, no one else would insure us but our home was valued higher than what Citizens would cover. We ended up on forced lender insurance. The company wouldn't tell us the price. We finally found a Lloyds of London policy for $10,000 that does not cover the roof, hurricanes, mold, or water damage. Basically we are only covered for fire and it won't cover the full value of our home. Until our roof is repaired or replaced (and the roof claim closed), no one else will insure us. We moved here 4 years ago and our homeowner's insurance was under $4,000. We were not expecting $10,000 a year plus over $100,000 to replace the roof. We can't even sell unless we can find a cash buyer who is willing to buy an uninsurable house with a leaky roof. It's a tough situation. Not to mention that our car insurance is also $3,000 and we've had no accidents. It was about $1,200 when we moved here.

I am sooo sorry for you.

 

[tvguy]

There are other tactics insurance companies use to boost profits. In California, Allstate with their auto policies now requires 50% of the annual premium as the down payment, instead of allowing 1/12.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

We currently have progressive with a very reasonable rate but our house isn’t even a year old yet.
I keep hearing about people on our community having to replace their 30 year roofs after 10 to 15 years to stay insured. This whole thing makes me very nervous.

 

[LYSE]

It's a mess, I can't get insurance from any big recognizable name because of proximity to the ocean (half mile) there's virtually no incentive for anyone to harden their homes against potential damage and the assignment of benefits is a big problem with all these roof repairs, I made a legitimate roof claim and I had one of the scam roofing companies try and get me to sign an AOB so they could over charge then sue the insurance for more (despite the insurance quoting well over market value)

 

[SL6827]

Makes me really wonder if it is going to be worth having much of anything in the future.

 

[tvguy]

I keep hearing about people on our community having to replace their 30 year roofs after 10 to 15 years to stay insured. This whole thing makes me very nervous.

I have heard people say that but I don't think I know anyone who has that happen. I've been with the same homeowners insurance company for 40 years, they have never inspected my roof or my house and as far as they know the original roof from 44 years ago when the house was built is on the house. it isn't, I've replaced the roof twice. I guess they could have check with the County and seen the permits for a new roof.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

I have heard people say that but I don't think I know anyone who has that happen. I've been with the same homeowners insurance company for 40 years, they have never inspected my roof or my house and as far as they know the original roof from 44 years ago when the house was built is on the house. it isn't, I've replaced the roof twice. I guess they could have check with the County and seen the permits for a new roof.

I hope you are right.

 

[disneychrista]

Both my car insurance and home owners insurance have go way up here in California. My home owners has doubled over the past two years. My car insurance has gone up by 50%. Both are due to wildfires and skyrocketing costs.

 

[SL6827]

We have friends here in North Georgia who got a free roof in Florida when they lived there with this scam. Of course they didn't know what was really going on. They were just tickled they got a new roof.

 

[MillauFr]

Makes me really wonder if it is going to be worth having much of anything in the future.

Well the houses that are in risky locations are going to see their values drop. No one will be able to get a mortgage on them since they are uninsurable. It is going to be a real mess.

 

[hrhdhd]

We have friends here in North Georgia who got a free roof in Florida when they lived there with this scam. Of course they didn't know what was really going on. They were just tickled they got a new roof.

Please. They knew.

I replaced my roof in 2020, and one of the guys who came to give me an estimate said, "Looks like you have some hail damage! We can work with your insurance company and get you a free roof." I said, "Goodbye."

I paid for my roof. Then I sent documentation to my insurance company, and they knocked a few bucks (a few) off my premium. That's how it should work.

 

[SL6827]

Please. They knew.

I replaced my roof in 2020, and one of the guys who came to give me an estimate said, "Looks like you have some hail damage! We can work with your insurance company and get you a free roof." I said, "Goodbye."

I paid for my roof. Then I sent documentation to my insurance company, and they knocked a few bucks (a few) off my premium. That's how it should work.

So every single person knew it was a scam then?

 

[georgina]

I have heard people say that but I don't think I know anyone who has that happen. I've been with the same homeowners insurance company for 40 years, they have never inspected my roof or my house and as far as they know the original roof from 44 years ago when the house was built is on the house. it isn't, I've replaced the roof twice. I guess they could have check with the County and seen the permits for a new roof.

We had an insurance company drop our homeowners coverage in SW PA because the roof was 20 years old. I was having a major kitchen remodel done at the time and our contractor looked at the roof and said it was in good shape. Found another insurance company pretty easily, but they said they would pro-rate any water damages. Then we moved to VA and again had trouble with getting homeowners because the roof was 22 years old. Some large companies, like GEICO, would not write a policy on it. I did find one. In both of these cases we had the roof replaced within a few years, but I thought it odd how hard line they were when the roofs were fine at the time.

 

[SL6827]

We were married less than one year when we had a $20,000 claim on our home back in 1997 ish. If that happened today, we probably couldn't find anyone to insure us.

 

[tvguy]

We had an insurance company drop our homeowners coverage in SW PA because the roof was 20 years old. I was having a major kitchen remodel done at the time and our contractor looked at the roof and said it was in good shape. Found another insurance company pretty easily, but they said they would pro-rate any water damages. Then we moved to VA and again had trouble with getting homeowners because the roof was 22 years old. Some large companies, like GEICO, would not write a policy on it. I did find one. In both of these cases we had the roof replaced within a few years, but I thought it odd how hard line they were when the roofs were fine at the time.

I guess I've been lucky. I knew I needed a new roof (both times). because of water stains on the ceiling. I just grabbed the left over paint in the garage and painted over the stains and that fixed the stain, so cost nothing. The roof was the expense, and of course insurance would not cover that.
When I was still living at mom's house the only leak was in the garage, right over my car. My mom didn't think it was a big deal, so I started parking my car on the side she normally parked on. THEN it became a big deal and she called a roofer and put a new roof on. LOL.

 

[MillauFr]

Reading through these comments should reinforce the need to increase your deductible. Having a low deductible and making frequent claims is a sure fire way to get dropped. If you are not going to make small claims so you can keep your insurance there is zero reason to have a small deductible.

 

[cvjw]

We were married less than one year when we had a $20,000 claim on our home back in 1997 ish. If that happened today, we probably couldn't find anyone to insure us.

Depends on your insurance company and how long you have been with them. My sister has had 3 house floods covered by State Farm. Just had the last one in the spring. They have not dropped her coverage or significantly increased the premiums.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Reading through these comments should reinforce the need to increase your deductible. Having a low deductible and making frequent claims is a sure fire way to get dropped. If you are not going to make small claims so you can keep your insurance there is zero reason to have a small deductible.

The hurricane deductible on our house (in Florida) is $27,000.00; we pay over $16,000.00 for our homeowners insurance and have never had a claim (we had damage from Irma, around $21,000.00 but paid OOP since the deductible was higher). Last year our insurer stopped writing in Florida so our broker had to shop the policy and all quotes were in the same ballpark. The cost of homeowners insurance in Florida is crazy. The broker said some companies wouldn't write our house because there is a sinkhole within 5 miles.

 

[georgina]

Reading through these comments should reinforce the need to increase your deductible. Having a low deductible and making frequent claims is a sure fire way to get dropped. If you are not going to make small claims so you can keep your insurance there is zero reason to have a small deductible.

Interesting point. We don't live in an area prone to storm damage, have always had $1000 deductible on our home. In 35 years in PA we had one claim, for replacement of patio doors after a break-in. Florida obviously is a whole 'nother story! Those rates seem crazy to me.

 

[tvguy]

Interesting point. We don't live in an area prone to storm damage, have always had $1000 deductible on our home. In 35 years in PA we had one claim, for replacement of patio doors after a break-in. Florida obviously is a whole 'nother story! Those rates seem crazy to me.

It is an interesting point, and sometimes some kinds of insurance deductibles just don't make sense.
I have $1,000 deductible on my home, and I had the same on my auto policy. I bought a new Toyota 3 years ago and Toyota Motor credit made me change my deductible to $500. The difference in the premium, $8 over 6 months. Yes, Eight Dollars! I swear I was saving well over $100 when I checked decades ago. Agent says, sometimes these days high deductibles just don't make sense. Knock on wood, my last auto claim was in 1975, for $50 and my last home owners claim was in about 1990 and it was for $1,500 when my dishwasher took out my kitchen floring..