Property Insurers Seek Hefty Rate Hikes

Not in Florida. Most don't last 15 unless they are a high quality thick asphalt. The sun just beats on them too bad here.
Longest lasting roofs from a sun / weather standpoint are copper, lead, slate or stone tile or coal tar pitch.
That last one will last you 50 years but it's carcinogenic.

 

We got 25 years out of the original roof on our house (SW Fl) and are at year 19 on this one. Regular shingles, this roof has seen 6 hurricanes close enough and Irma eye went over the house when roof was 14 years old. Likely could have gotten new roof for free but didn't want to be part of the problem when roof is fine with a few dings where debris hit the shingles

 

Thats a long life. Are they the thicker architectural shingles. It's usually not the base material that starts to fail it's the granular surface. Base material is still asphalt with a fiberglass binder.

 

Yes, architectural grade. Well worth the upgrade. Keep the mold under control and the granular life span increases. Mold seems to break down the adhesive bond somehow. Never, ever pressure wash.

 

I moved into my house 19 years ago and the roof on the main part of the house (there have been 2 additions, 1 in 1998 and 1 in 2008) was old then. It is mostly shaded, but probably gets about 6 hours of sun a day and it is just reaching the end of its useful life.

 

Shade absolutely helps. UV rays will eventually breakdown most asphalt.

 

I think the Legislature had to do something on condos as part of the property insurance fix and this seems a decent start, but man to create more legal obligations for condo boards and developers to litigate over, and new significant assessments are going to roil that market

Nearly a year after the catastrophic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to legislation that will require condominium association boards to set aside money in reserves to cover future repairs starting in 2025. Current law allows them to waive the requirement.

“They are allowed to do that, and most of them are doing that today. They’re doing that because they are kicking the can down the road and not wanting the cost,” said state Rep. Danny Perez, R-Miami. “So moving forward, the structural integrity of a condominium will be reserved, they will be maintained, and they will be kept up to par so that future condominiums never have to worry about another Surfside taking place.”


CONDOS continued from 3A association dues. The House did not budge on that provision. - Tampa Bay Times

 

There are spray on and rinse off chemicals that kill the mold and add life to the roof.

What I’m reading about in Florida is all insurance companies are going with a hard limit of 20 years no matter what the manufacturers warranty says. And not allowing roll on roof coatings over flat or slightly sloped bitumen roof covers.

Re our 9 story condo building.
We could do a roof over roll on for 200K that has a 25 year manufacturers warranty. However, no insurance company will allow it. Our cost to strip, haul off old roof, raise AC units and passive exhaust fans, plus a few other items, then reroof is 635K.

 

This needed to happen. I was on our board for three years until this year where I’m taking a year break. I was in charge of our building and we were self managed. Our building was not properly maintained. So i and the other 6 board members forced a reserve study on our building due to the unfunded liabilities we knew we had. This was fought against by the older long time owners who kicked the cans down the road. Once we received the study it gave us the power to correct was has been lacking and that is numerous items like roofing, RE-piping, relining the sewer pipes, and some other lesser cost items. Then we hired a management company that was fought once again by the same old owners. Then we special assessed our owners 968K and raised our dues to the proper level to have the funds needed for future projects. My special assessment was $11,993.00 and well worth it. I see another assessment in a year or two for about half that amount. We have zero structural issues so that’s a huge plus.

With all that 3 condo units have been sold this past month for a boat load of money. One owner passed away and the other two got too old to take care of themselves. Their families live up north and are not interested in keeping due to us being a residential condo with strict lease limitations. The units would sit vacant for most of the year.

As of April 1st we are one of the few condo building that can say we have fully funded reserves. Once we have another reserve study and figures are adjusted we will have another assessment and be fully funded again.

If you are regular Joe blow and want to live on the beach facing the gulf a condo is the only way to do it for less than a million.

 

I agree it was needed but man will there will be litigation and disputes over special assessments

 

The state of Florida condo law gives boards a lot of power. Challenge away fools.

It specifically says board members have a fiduciary responsibility in all duties.

Condo owners can sue or challenge all they want. That will be suing themselves since they are the association.

The collapse and now additional state law will soon be passed that power will increase.

Once we showed our owners the law, details, and past legal decisions many have backed off. Now we have a majority of owners who are 100% on board. Any vote of owners would go for proper funding and maintenance. Our articles of incorporation, rules and regulations, and state law are strong against any changes. I’m not in the least worried.

One item that got a lot of attention was how in the past owners who sold didn’t properly disclose our unfunded liabilities. They are the ones on the hook for a challenge. Unfunded liabilities lower your condo value and limits prospective owners.

 

Well aware of all that. Have dealt with it professionally ad nauseam.

There is a LOT of litigation on it. A lot. And there are always areas of dispute, especially if the amounts are high enough.

 

That’s why you hire professionals like engineers and licensed contractors for details and costs. We get a minimum of three estimates from contractors on costs. It more difficult to challenge a professional.

Fortunately in our condo there are 4 out of 85 owners who are not on board with the changes we implemented. And they have gone silent being so much of a minority.

Down the road is a different story. The board was recalled and a legal challenge has been sent against reserve funding. We will see what occurs after state law is passed with respect to reserves.

 

So essentially the legislative session did nothing from what I've read.

They threw in $2 Billion dollars to the re-insurance fund so the insurance companies can buy re-insurance for less, but in reality the $2B is nothing and the savings wont be passed on and more than likely the companies will still fold.

They increased inspections on condos and made it so the reports are shared with the tenants.

NONE of this addresses the real situation of predatory lawyers and roofers.

 

Nothing that's going to reduce premiums. There's a few things that might help people get insurance easier or upgrade their roof with grant money (which will mostly benefit people with the money to do those things already). But its really not going to solve the pressing issues.

 

The problems are so much deeper than that. Yeah, there are bad roofers and public adjusters trolling for roof replacements, and using bad lawyers to get insurance companies to pay. It's certainly part of the problem. But there's also shenanigans and accounting games happening on the insurance company side. I've heard some stories. And that's all I'm gonna say publicly on the subject.

The $2B pool is a drop in the bucket in the big picture, not gonna move the needle...

 

From today's list of yesterday's legal filings. Obviously not the same person, but it does catch the eye

Rhonda Desantis; Ronald Desantis
v.
Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
5/31/2022 22002573CI Muscarella

Insurance. Property damage claim.

Jabari Bennett
Cohen Law Group

 

Happened to get my house inspected today as insurer is changing. Inspector said the insurance companies start getting nervous at any shingles over 12 years for a new policy.

 

We used to own a condo in FtL and the first part of our due diligence was making sure there were adequate reserves set aside. Most folks don't bother with that, hopefully that is changing.

We sold the condo last year, in part due to the continued bickering between one group that wanted a 5* bldg and were willing to pay for it vs another group that didn't want to pay for any mtn/upgrades at all. The last group was populated by too many snowbirds/ part timer residents.

Not sure I would buy another condo at this point. If I did, it would have to be a newer bldg. Sounds like u r in top of things. Good luck with the minority.

 

From an insurance industry publication: In 2021, more than 116,000 lawsuits were filed against Florida property insurers—the highest number filed in any other state was 900.

How Will Florida’s Property Insurance Legislation Impact Capacity, Limits and/or Premium Rates?

If accurate, that is astonishing: 116 : 1 ratio of litigation. Yeah, I think the lawsuits might have something to do with increased costs of insurance.