Property Insurers Seek Hefty Rate Hikes

Fair points. You're ahead of me on tree knowledge, and I don't know what I'm talking about, but I have heard people quick to distinguish live oaks and water oaks in terms of their durability.

 

Funny you would say that. I have to admit I did get rebates on my auto insurance because of COVID (less driving around). Those rates have held firm but now it's gas prices eliminating that savings and much more.

 

There is a significant difference between the two as far as the facts I've described. I'm confining my remarks to healthy mature live oaks. They are very common and are usually what set focus on these issues

 

Flood insurance is for water levels rising, even if caused by a hurricane Hurricane insurance won't cover water levels rising. You don't have to live in a flood zone to have a big problem. In 2094/2905 we lived on the east coast where we were smashed by Jean and Francis. We all had hurricane protection so our structures were ok. My family had to evacuate inland, so we went to my cousins house a few miles from me. He lived in the same community as the Williams sisters. We had a very slow moving storm with tons of rain. The next morning after the storm had passed we took a look outside.. The streets were flooded with water half way up the driveway and hitting some garage doors in lower elevation homes. My cousins 2 teen age sons went outside and were wading around. One of them found the storm drain which was plugged up with palm fronds he pulled the fronds out, it was like taking a plug out of a bath tub. Within 10 minutes the water was gone.
When I moved into my new community in 2016 I purchased flood insurance even though not required. I wanted to make sure the builder connected all the storm sewers

 

The roofing scam has become so prevalent that you can't get new insurance on a home that has a roof that is > 10 years old. Its ridiculous since a new asphalt shingle roof will last 15 to 30 years.

 

Most ppl don't know the difference between a sturdy live oak and the similar appearing laurel oak, which are quite prone to being uprooted by heavy wind, particularly if there was a lot of rain to go along with it.

 

Agree wholeheartedly, although Laurel Oaks are also not quite as vulnerable as many people believe. Still, they are vulnerable in a windstorm.

A healthy Live Oak is not. Any storm strong enough to uproot your healthy live oak would've destroyed your home anyway. A healthy Live Oak will do nothing but give you protection

 

The flood maps hadn't been updated since the 1960's from what I recall. After Jean/Frances (which I referenced before) the flood maps were updated and have been updated again since.

 

Unless they have unknown damage, like a split in the crotch. I saw a pic of one that dropped a limb (as big as most trees by itself) on a yard in Orlando last summer during a normal afternoon thundershower. Good thing it didn't hit the house.

 

yep - qualified as "healthy". Still always far less risk than most people think. But were probably spending too much time on this issue. It's just a pet peeve of mine

 

After Frances, I had 5 uprooted laurel oaks down in my yard (three from the natural area bordering my yard and one large sweetgum that happened to be hollow that snapped off about shoulder height. All of my many mature pines survived (but not since ). It was a mess, but thankfully none hit the house.

 

Water Oaks live about 40-50 years on average, then the start to rot center out. The trunk may look fine until a storm and then crack and its toast on your roof.

 

Since we are on the topic I suggest you also make sure you have the extra coverage for Ordinance and law coverage. Saved me over 100K out of pocket rebuilding last year due to a fire.
This coverage covers increased costs due to code changes, repairs to parts of structure not damaged due to the initial cause of the claim.

 

Sad but true.

 

Yep, very good advice!

 

If a penny saved is a penny earned... You made out like a bandit. A Spurrier Tampa Bay Bandit! What a great purchase.

 

Insurance Agent here....
So the rates have sky rocketed due to claims over the past 3 years or so, mainly due to water and roof claims.

I have a client who was insured with Avatar, had a small leak in her 10 year old tile roof that she made a claim for. The claim was under her $2,500 deductible so she got the roof fixed by a handyman for $700.

A week later she gets a letter from a lawyer saying he can get the claim paid and she said yes, signed her policy over to him and he went after them for the repair.

Meanwhile she gets a cancellation notice from Avatar saying they are closing shop and she needs new insurance. She reaches out to me, I have her get the proper inspections (Wind Mitigation Report and 4pt Insp) and it shows that the roof is in excellent condition, with 17 years remaining life so we write her with Citizens and actually saved her $2k with more coverage.

A couple weeks ago she calls me and says she got a check from Avatar for $45k to replace the whole roof but cant cash it because Avatar is bankrupt. More than likely the funds will come from the Sunshine Fund that backs all the admitted carriers from funds from the state.

This is a prime example of what were dealing with, the client got a check for $45k and the lawyer I'm sure is getting an even bigger cut for a fix that cost less than $100.

 

Have you gotten an elevation certificate done? That could make all the difference in the world.

 

Florida has approximately 8 percent of claims but somewhere around 80 percent of lawsuits.

 

Another issue is that the Lawyers have no cap on their rates for litigation, in other words they can charge $500 per hour and have 1,000's of hours billed knowing that the the deep pockets of the insurance company will pay.

That's why we see so many claims just paid out without a fight. the insurance companies would rather pay out a claim instead of fighting it in court, losing and then now have to pay the claim plus litigation fees.