Property Insurers Seek Hefty Rate Hikes

Citizens getting a lot of new policies as other insurers will not write

New policies surge at Citizens - Tampa Bay Times

 

Okay, just a quick bump of my latest outrage. I have a nice house, but not a mansion. Bought in 2014 in the high $400s - nice middle class neighborhood in the S FL 'burbs. I told the story of getting dropped by Avatar from my $5k/yr policy. Ended up with FedNat, the only company who would write us a policy. It was $10.6k. Just got my renewal notice. Yes, FedNat is offering to keep me - at $14,800 for the year. The raw premium is actually closer to $30k, and this is the result after I get all my construction and wind mitigation credits. And my roof is concrete tile, new in 2017.

Almost makes you want to pay off the mortgage and buy catastrophic coverage only...

 

I don't know how people can afford South Florida, the auto rates are sky high too

 

Looks like a political solution may present itself. Freddie Mack and Fannie Mae may downgrade Florida insurers, basically recognizing what Florida officials themselves have acknowledged through a special session. But CFO Patronis says it’s an overreaction to a single insurer, not systemic.

Now the Administration can blame the Federal government


Downgrades may hit insurers - Tampa Bay Times

 

Talking to my insurance broker yesterday, two of their companies just went into liquidation and they are scrambling to rewrite a ton of policies.

Big Gov Ron going to need to step in.

 

No easy fix without political pain. That's the problem.

 

I just renewed my homeowners for $481.92 a year. I have Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company based in Fort Lauderdale Florida.

My insurance is for personal property only as our condo association has flood and wind insurance on the building. We are on the Gulf of Mexico.

What’s interesting and a pleasant surprise was my premium only increased 20 dollars and they increased my coverage 62K (due to estimated repair increases) I recently remodeled and need to increase my contents coverage. Curious what that might cost vs me covering anything over what I currently have covered should I have a loss?

Fwiw, I hear they aren’t writing any more policies.

 

Just out of curiosity did the premium on your HOA's policy increase and if so by how much? My guess is that the answer is in the affirmative and that your monthly HOA dues will very likely be increased to reflect the increased insurance premium.

 

Yes. About 40K for the building which is a 9 story 88 unit condo. It was mostly due to flood and wind. We also were denied renewal due to the age of our roof and changed insurance companies. We have a current roof engineer and contract for replacement due to begin once the materials arrive.

I’m starting to think we should stay in our condo with all the insurance issues with single family homes. The insurance is certainly less at least as of now.


Here’s what my monthly association dues of $818.00 cover.

Wind and flood insurance
Management company
Maintenance and cleaning staff
Lawn care
Water and sewage
Pest control
Cable TV
Upgraded internet
Heated swimming pool
Additional funds to cover future projects (projected)

 

Apples and oranges comparing a H06 condo policy (interior/contents) to an H03 homeowner policy (interior/contents + structural/exterior). The risk of loss is a world apart, and policies are priced accordingly.

 

Update to my insurance saga above. We didn't want to renew at $14.8k annually. Our insurance broker couldn't find anything better. We even got quotes from a few direct insurance companies, but no significant savings. At the recommendation of some of our friends, we called AAA, who will write a home+auto bundle. We were able to get the coverages we wanted and the total annual premium is $8500. We were paying about $2400/yr for auto insurance, so this is a substantial savings. $17.2k -> $8.5k. Wow...

Oh, and we did have to pay a $70 annual AAA membership too...

 

I know that. I still think my insurance is much cheaper even when you add the part of my association dues that go towards insurance. Check out my edit.

 

If your condo is anything like that one I used to have, insurance is probably around 50% of what you're paying, nearly $5k/yr + the $800ish for your interior policy.

One thing I highly recommend is checking the value of the property in the event of a total loss. My condo was more of a townhouse style, 26 buildings, each containing 8 units. Each building was insured for around $1M. That's $125k/unit. The units were selling for $250k-$300k+ each, so we were horribly underinsured in the event of a total loss. This was one of the reasons I was not unhappy to sell the place and move into a SFH where I get to make all the decisions.

 

No doubt if the building was a total loss We’d all come up short. However, if that occurred every piece of property along the gulf in this area and homes along the inter coastal would be also. That would be catastrophic even if we were able to sell the land for millions.


I’d walk away and start over. Probably move to Tennessee where we have friends. Fortunately I’m able to do that with my savings and retirement earnings.

 

Sounds quite cheap, ours was much more than that B4 we sold.
We used to have separate Universal policies for a condo and a house. Never ever again.
They do everything possible to not pay claims. Had water damage in the condo and they only paid at the last minute to avoid losing litigation.

Good luck, hope u never have a claim.

 

I hope I don’t have a claim either.

I had an open house today where 2 couples are going to make offers. One couple came back after being here last week. The other said they have cash. I guess I’ll know in a couple days if either are serious.

I want to get away from the gulf. Not have to worry about hurricanes, storm surge, and red tide.

We will move well inland if we sell.

 

Cash works. Good luck.

 

Issue is not going away. More insurers downgraded. Not sure of the answer, but it does not seem we are prioritizing the issue enough.
3 Fla. insurers downgraded - Tampa Bay Times

 

Good piece in today’s Times explaining the role of the sole ratings agency, Demotech, and getting downgraded from A to S, and FNMA and FRMC. Our state government just demagogued Demotech despite not disagreeing with them. Eventually, the state just backstopped the risk. That was likely the only immediate option, though the demagoguery was just so typical of this dishonest, power hungry group that don’t want to engage the issue because the want to maintain the culture war brand to higher office instead of focusing on responsible governance

Insurance crisis built up over decades - Tampa Bay Times

 

It's this climate change crap. Insurers are betting the state of Florida will be under water in a decade or so.