OT- Insurance

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Status
Not open for further replies.
W

woodwish

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2004
Messages
966
Location
Lynn Haven, Florida, USA.
My insurance guy says that I am getting a good deal on my homeowners insurance, and I am lucky to have it at this price. I think it is a total ripoff just beacuse of where we live, so I'm curious what other parts of the country pay.

Insured value of the house is about $240,000 and we have average coverage. In 2004 we paid $850, 2005 it jumped some to $1100, then last year after all the hurricane losses in Florida it jumped to $2500. Yesterday I got the bill for 2007 and it jumped to $6500. No that is not a typo, it JUMPED more than four-thousand dollars in one year after doubling already the year before.

We have normal deductibles for usual stuff but in case of hurricane damage the deductible is 10% of the value of the house. In other words if we lose our roof in a hurricane the deductible is $24,000 so it's pretty much worthless. We also have no flood insurance, that is a seperate policy that we just can't afford, now we can't really afford just basic insurance. I'm ready to move to somewhere the insurance is better. So is this the same thing you pay or are we really getting ripped?
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Considering you live in Florida, I would say you are gonna get screwed no matter how you look at it. I would call around and ask some other agents who deal with other companies to see what they would charge. Won't cost you anything, and after I did the same thing with auto insurance last fall, I got better coverage for less money through a different company. All this after I was "told" by my agent how great a deal I am getting because of all the multiline discounts.
 
Unfortunately, Ray it seems that anyone who lives in a coastal area is getting bashed by insurance premium increasing. One article in Time or Newsweek said that insurance companies are using global warming changes as the reason to dramatically increase or even cancel insurance policies.

I don't know what kind of oversight is involved to regulate the insurance companies. If there is some sort of regulatory authority, that might be a place to consider voicing a complaint.
 
I hesitate to chime in here having some inside information, but I will say that you are not alone. The entire Gulf Coast is seeing huge increases due to the threat of Hurricanes. Florida is the perfect example of too many people, building too many houses, too close to the ocean. Until the late 80's, there was a lull in large hurricanes and as the population of the coastal regions increased, so did Insurer's exposure to large losses. Now that large hurricane have started to hit, insurers can't afford to keep customers at the old rates. There are a number of ways that companies are dealing with this: Raise rates, cancel policies, buy reinsurance, turn to the government for hurricane funds. A number of companies are questioning whether or not they write homeowners insurance at all because of the risk. If companies cannot make money from writing business in Florida, they will stop writing all together.

None of this may help you feel better about your situation, but I thought you may benefit from the other side of the equation. Insurance in Florida is heavily regulated and rates increases are reviewed and approved by the insurance department before they go into effect.
 
Ray, I live just down the road from you and my insurance did the same thing. My wife and I are considering a move to South Alabama or South GA, with the increase of over 200 % on property taxes and the insurance increases of 300%, I can't afford to live here much longer....[:(!][:(!][:(!]
 
I live in Kansas and two years ago we had a tornado that went through the corner of our county. The next year our insurance took the biggest jump ever. I heard an insurance agent say to another customer "well someone has to pay for that tonado". I guess it is better us than the company?
 
Sounds like a rip to me. Very sad. I sold insurance many years ago and was taught that losses are supposed to be shared with all policy holders. Meaning that, for Florida, or even nationwide, the increase should be spread among all policy holders. But, things have changed and you are getting clobbered for local conditions. I'll brag on Arkansas. We have a law that prohibits rate increases due to losses caused by acts of God. e.g. weather. In a four year period, I had two big losses (over $13,000.00 each) caused by hail storms. The company cannot increase rates. But, if I'm late with a payment, they can cut me off and that would make getting coverage from another company difficult and very-very expensive because of the loss history.
 
Not same but somehow related...

I was with a car insurance for years and they started me off with a great rate to coax me to transfer. Year after year after that my premium slowly crept up until I cannot take it anymore and got another quote from a competitor. When I moved they offered to give me my original rate a few years back (about 35% less)...to which I said "Is this how you reward loyalty? By punishing us with higher rates?" The salesman was very apologetic but I moved anyway. I am watching my new insurance co. now.

Moral is do shop around...may not matter in your case but still worth a try.
 
Ray,

Sounds like your insurer believes that one in every 50 homes in "sunny Northwest Florida" will be a total loss this year. May want to ask if you get a refund if their "actuarial table" is incorrect!!!

(Won't change anything, but MAY make you feel better!!)[}:)][}:)][}:)]
 
Originally posted by ed4copies
<br />Ray,

Sounds like your insurer believes that one in every 50 homes in "sunny Northwest Florida" will be a total loss this year. May want to ask if you get a refund if their "actuarial table" is incorrect!!!

(Won't change anything, but MAY make you feel better!!)[}:)][}:)][}:)]
Click to expand...

Ed, Actuarial tables are on the life side of the business. They don't exist on the P&C side.
 
Ray,
Didn't our new governor (Charlie Crist) PROMISE to do something about this?!! I'm in Jacksonville and see the same thing happening. We haven't been hit by a hurricane since Dora in '64. But one good storm will usually cause some damaged property on those ocean front homes. Well, you know the rest of this story. Just keep rebuilding them at the expense of others.
 
For the majority of 2006 I worked for a large insurance company, I won't mention any names, but it's the one that just did the K-Fed commercial. I was in IT, not anywhere near policies so don't hold it against me.
I remember getting a lot of internal company spam about the changes in laws and premiums on the gulf coast and all of Florida. Yes, the company that had just put $2 billion into the bank (that's a B and that's profit) had gotten legal approval to rape you and then rake you over the coals to protect their bottom line since the hurricane was so damaging to their business.
From what I've heard, there are quite a few insurers who are pulling out of that area, and you'll be left at the mercy of whomever is left behind.
 
I am in Metro Atlanta and my house is insured for $190K and my insurance has doubled int the last three years to just under a thousand dollars. Their claim is that with all of the natural disasters, the damage total is spread through out the industry. True or not I don't know, but I shopped around and I cannot find a cheaper quote even though I have not made a claim for the last 10 years. My agent said it didn't seem fair, but that is the way it is.

Andy
 
Ray, sorry to say it is time to move. Competition from insurnace companies create a fair playing field for the consumer. Unfortunatly, nobody wants to write business in Florida anymore. So you our at the mercy of the few that do. You will continue to get screwed by the insurance companies there. Don't blame them, if I owned an insurance company, I would not write business in FL. never understood why folks moved to places prone to hurricanes and tornados. Even if you have 10 years of good weather and no catastrophic losses, it is like gas, they are not going to lower the rates.

Also, as much as the big insurance companies cry about these losses. Check the books, it was a record year for profits by most large carriers.

Most states do not regulate insurance premiums. They all have an insurance department, but in Arizona, we are a file & rate state. meaning, if we want to change our rates, we just file them with the state and charge what wwe want. But there is so much competition in AZ from all the companies that want to do business here, it is a very competetive market. Still, I think we are getting rape as well, In the last 8 years, I have seen most rates tripple [xx(] Can't wait to get out of the business, I use to think I was helping my clients and I made a differnece for them. Now it is like any other large corporation, to much greed and need to show profits for the shareholders.
Bend over and get the vasaline [:0]
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom