I have a 36-year-old house inland (but only 10 miles or so) that is not in a flood zone. I've never had a hurricane claim, and I've cut down all of the large trees that could come down on my house. I pay $5400 on a $350k house. And I can't find any better price for a reputable insurance company.
Well that stinks for you. I read similar posts like that from others. Curious if the homes age is why so much or maybe not quiet far enough from the coast? My house is 3 years old, no flood zone, and fairly far from the coast. I have my insurance through Tower Hill Exchange (Regency). My premium is just under $1500 per year. Now that may all change when it comes time to renew. I expect that it will so I want be surprised if it does. What can be done to get back close to where we were? Or have hurricane strikes killed our market? If that’s the issue we are stuck as no one can stop a hurricane no matter who the govna is.
We moved from Florida to Alabama over the summer. Was kind of in shock when we got our home insurance bill. $900 for the year in Alabama vs $5000 in Florida.
My house is reinforced for hurricanes and has Shwinco windows (the only company that not only puts aluminum in the vinyl to reinforce it, but also welds the aluminum at the corners). My policy indicates that I am getting $10k in rate reductions, so without that, I would be paying $15k+ per year. My neighborhood has never had any hurricane-based flooding--most of the area is 60-80' above sea level. I don't have any good answers. I just wish the governor was paying attention to the problem.
My understanding is hurricane coverage and flood insurance are two different things. Hurricane coverage is for wind damage during a hurricane. Flood insurance covers flooding that occurs, whether or not caused by the hurricane. A lot of people who turn down flood insurance are shocked to find that the flooding after a hurricane is not covered by the regular homeowners policy.
Man that sucks. My house is 1 mile from the beach, 2000feet from the river and insured for 750k. My premium is $2800 this year. Granted it’s a brand new home with impact windows metal roof and CB top to bottom.
Jeez, that's bad. I'll be paying just over half that, but it's still a 50+% jump compared to what I was paying because my insurer bailed on Florida. Shit is out of control.
Yep very different and you have to make sure you get flood insurance because it's not a given anywhere in the US. Hurricane insurance in Florida is actually required; found that out when I bought the place in FL. The reason is no bank will finance your mortgage without it. And since I paid it off, I still know it's required and I'm not dumb enough to take the risk any way. My luck Pensacola gets hit with a Cat 5 the same year I remove it.
Somehow stop the predatory lawsuits that got a bunch of rich people new roofs. It is disgusting the amount of what to my non legal eyes appeared to be fraudulently getting new roofs for older houses that happened. Then cap hurricane damages and replace the excess insurance with state funded hurricane damage repair funds. Then shoot all the insurance executives making a salary over 2 million a year.
Just got dumped by Frontline after one year. Between HO and auto (Farm Bureau) paying close to 13k per year. Brutal
My mother-in-law had a friend in Pensacola Beach who had her house destroyed twice by hurricanes. Not a place to take chances.
That's ridiculously high. I pay $1,700 for a 23 year old house with a tile roof and plenty of oak trees around the house. My house is in the $750k range. Check out Frontline Insurance, that's who I use.
How do you know it’s “predatory”? I don’t know a single person whose insurance gave them a fair number for home repair from Ian. You either accept the bs number, or you need an adjuster/lawyer. Are you seriously suggesting people should just have to accept whatever the insurance co offers to pay? How do you think that works? I think there is a certain reality on these premiums. First off, building costs were just really high already when this storm hit. Housing prices were also at historic highs. A person might have paid $400,000k for a home years ago, but replacement value might now be $800k or $1M or more. At the same time, Hurricane incidents are getting more damaging (this past 20 years has been really bad, and obviously Ian was a bomb… but not even a “nuke” to the market like if a storm like that hit the Tampa area). I think Desantis is despicable, but even I recognize that there are forces at play here that politics cannot control. If anything, our markets might be TOO regulated on pricing which is causing insurers to leave. Rates might need to be be allowed to float even higher to attract insurance players back. Of course that is assuming they aren’t leaving because they see the risks as just getting too high regardless of rates, which might also be a major issue with living in FL now. Of course insurers would love to collect those premiums and be able to tell their customers “take it or leave it” on the back end, but that’s like not having any insurance at all imo. Or at best like luck of the draw if you actually get an honest insurance co. adjuster.
The roofing scams are legit. I can remember 20 years ago, after a freak hail storm, a bunch of neighbors getting new roofs. No prorating, just a new roof. Had roofers swearing that the hail ruined roof. Insurance paying out. My roof lasted another 10 years. I can’t even imagine the depth of the hurricane scams. Florida is hit by the double whammy of inflated housing and materials costs (thanks Jersey tansplants ) that increases the replacement structure costs. Mo Money!
I just called an agency that writes for frontline. I am supposed to receive a quote later today. We’ll see. I got dropped by farmers recently. Thanks.
I think predatory refers more to the guys walking neighborhoods offering a $50 gift card if you'll let them "inspect your roof", and assign over your insurance benefits. Then they pursue a questionable claim on an old roof. My wife has mediated 2 such cases already this month. The homeowner tends to be an elderly couple in this scenario...
If you are paying for replacement value through your policy, your roof is not supposed to be “prorated”, it’s supposed to be repaired in full, and if it cannot be repaired, replaced. I think it’s pretty obvious technical innovation is required. Shingle roofs don’t seem to hold up… at all.. once winds hit that 120-140+ mph level. After Ian I can’t tell you how many neighborhoods I saw of people whose household possessions were flooded, not because of flood waters from below, because their shingle roof failed. You’d think they got flooded, but these neighborhoods didn’t, it was all roof failures. I’m talking entire neighborhoods where every house had its furniture and contents out on the street because of water and mold. Tile roofs seem to protect your home better from this, but they are far more expensive to replace and if you get a few dozen broken tiles most likely you need a new roof (but the good news if it did it’s job the water didn’t come pouring in). I see a few people getting “metal tile”, maybe something like that is the answer but I don’t know much about it.
The question of whether flood or wind caused damage in a Hurricane is a substantive litigated issue. Wind can obviously cause water intrusion, but insurers might try and claim the damage was caused by flood.
Actually - now you can purchase a policy that pays either full replacement value, or depreciated value. The changes in FL set rules for depreciated value coverage on homes with roofs over 10 years old. I expect it to become very expensive to carry FRV coverage on an older roof, and many insurers will probably start pushing everyone in depreciated (actual cash value) policies in the coming years. Details here: Updated Florida Homeowner Insurance Requirements | Property360
Yes. 10 years is honestly too short for a concrete or clay tile roof, which is supposed to last 30 years or more with proper cleaning and maintenance. Seems ridiculous to push for 10 year replacement with that style of roof. Given the expense of a tile roof, it seems crazy to think there would be much disparity between 10 or 11 years. Of course as roofs start pushing 20, then you can understand the need to want to push for depreciated value, if not rapidly approaching zero insured value at some point. I agree with all that, so long as the their “useful life” is something reasonable and taking into account the materials. For tile, I think accelerated depreciation after 20 years would make the most sense. It’s a bit of a catch 22 with the tile roof. Better protection - thereby reducing the insurance risk coverage for “contents” of a home being ruined in a storm - yet also more expensive to replace (substantially so, like 3x or 4x more) - so you have a massive storm with widespread roof damage, those tile roofs pile on the expense.
