Home Insurance rate increases not just a Florida problem

I went through Allstate, and they used Cabrillo Coastal, it jumped this year by over $2000 here in Gainesville

 

Apartment. Retired last years and boys are wrapping up college soon. Move around US a bit, maybe Europe. Lots of travel in the meantime.
I retired youngish with the intent of doing fun stuff. Off we go.

 

Cabrillo writes for several companies as a general agent. They are competitive most days. Some of the rate increase people are seeing is from higher coverage due to higher rebuilding cost.

I know Cabrillo writes for Safe Harbor and Orange. Orange is a "take out" company, meaning they just took a bunch of the Citizens policies out of the state pool.

 

That's what they said it was to cover higher building costs

 

Awesome. Wish I could. Let me know when your ready for a month or so in Alaska and I can point you to a few things. We get 3 weeks or so a year up there along with a couple of other annual trips somewhere (Scotland Iceland last year). Having medical coverage is priceless if you want to retire early.
Wife and I plan on doing some mid to long term house and pet sitting when i retire to get travel lodging paid for. Some great opportunities out there

 

Florida rates are almost double the next closest state.
So yeah, it’s a Florida problem.

Soaring Home Insurance Costs Could Push Homeowners Out of These 10 States - Insurify

 

I am not sure that is at all accurate. I believe California is right there if not higher along with Texas and Louisiana. No way Florida's average homeowner insurance price is anywhere close to 9k a year.

 

In 2023 a similar survey was done and Florida was the massive outlier there too. Given that it was 6k last year and had gone up by 42 percent, 9k doesn’t sound that crazy for this year. But however it’s calculated, it’s a uniquely Florida problem.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/homeowners-in-desantiss-florida-face-a-costly-and-unique-problem-205638324.html

 

I agree the numbers in his link are obviously inflated. People in Colorado aren't paying an average of $3,300 in homeowner's on 300k in coverage, lol. But California is probably in the bottom half of states. Florida is definitely numero uno.

 

I don't see 6k rates very often here in Florida. Maybe in South Florida on higher values homes near the coast. That would not be anywhere close to a state average though. California rates are being held down by the state but that will end soon. The companies there are not writing business and many will leave if they don't get rate relief. I talk to agents all over the country and everyone is seeing large rate increases and having problems getting companies to write new business. I have a agency here in Gainesville. I have seen a lot of changes in the last 40 years. We do write some business as far South as Tampa and rates are a little higher there than Gainesville. They are closer to the coast and average home prices run a little higher.

Here is one I found based on 250k coverage that is much closer than the other chart.

https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/homeowners-insurance/homeowners-insurance-cost/#cost-by-state

 

$6K+ is very common in Hillsborough County. My premium the last 3 years with the same company and no claims.:
$2500.
$3700.
Current $6700.

$500,000 home, not even remotely close to a flood zone.

 

True, I have a few homes insured in Hillsborough County and Pinellas County. The premiums run higher than Alachua as are the values and insurance amounts many times. No question there is a big problem with home insurance in Florida and auto is right there as well for different reasons. Increases have been coming every year now for the last 6 or 7 years and homeowner insurance is 10 times higher than it was not many years ago in most cases.

I looked at a home I have insured in Brandon and the premium is $3,400. for 424k coverage. It is a older home and the premium would be lower if it was built after 2003 most times.

All that said I don't think the average house in the Tampa area is insured at 500k replacement value. There are more there than Alachua and Marion County I would think but I don't think the average is near that high. Remember they insure to replacement value not market value or should anyway.

A lot depends on the age of the home as well as how far from the coast. Of course the replacement cost or insurance amount will make a big difference as well. I see some 6k premiums but the Florida average is not 9k. If they included flood coverage that would bring it up a lot on the coast but the majority of people don't buy flood insurance.

 

A catastrophic problem with Condos can be a nightmare, even with the HOA covering the building and the owner having a separate policy for their interior.

My parents own a couple of rentals in a multibuilding complex, one of the buildings caught fire (thankfully, not a building they owned in), now all the residents of that building have find a new place to live, while they continue to pay their mortgage and HOA fees, for what could be a multi-year rebuild. And the residents without the separate interior coverage will also be on the hook for everything pertaining to and inside the unit, -- flooring, lighting, appliances, AC, water heater, even the drywall, I'm told. The HOA's insurance just builds back the "frame" of the building, plumbing stub outs, electrical stub outs, etc...

 

There was a time where lenders didn't even ask for proof of insurance on condos at closing, let alone specify an amount of coverage needed to satisfy them. That has certainly changed, even though an HO-6 is a glorified renters policy.

 

Was signed on to my banking/insurance company this morning. In ATL suburbs, I am paying about $400 per 100K worth of house annually. 20 year old home, nowhere near a flood zone. Had two claims over the last 10 years (water leaks from internal piping)

 

That sounds like the rates we had here in the Gainesville Florida area 10 years ago.

 

IF you havent had to replace your pipes with multiple water losses and are paying that kind of rate, you are definitely winning

 

One was a regular pipe leak, the other was actually a slow leak from garbage disposal connection.

 

As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose

Pretty interesting article on the OP topic. Insurance losses are increases in many states. Homeowners in places like Iowa are losing coverage. The insurance industry has lost money in the last decade. This could get worse.