ATV Florida Forum

O.K. how many peaple here have seen the same thing my wife and I just saw today????

 We get the renewal for the home owners ins. today YEP, you guessed it ANOTHER INCREASE, this year it went up over 700.00 per year, and last year it went up 500.00 per year.  :banghead.gif :cursing.gif :F :gr
 Keep in mind we have NEVER had a claim, or paid late!!!! This is friggin CRAZY !!!!!! >:(
 I know Jeff ( 535 banshee) had a HUGE increase on his too !!!

Turn on the news right now. Charlie Christ is fighting for reductions and has already made some major strides towards this happening.

Jessica and I were wanting to move out of our apartment. We found a couple houses in our budget and the payment was great. Then we added homeowners insurance and property tax and the payment went up $400-600/month depending on the house.

Yeah, But I also heard that they are appealing it to the Supreame court, So that means it could be who knows when something SOLID will be done :'(

Mine went up $300/yr. I think it has a lot to do with whether a home was built before or after Andrew codes went into effect. Although I am sure there is more that goes into it, it is a major factor.

I say it's time to get the hell outa Florida.   >:(

700.00 last year 1900 this year with zero claims on the policy   >:( >:( >:( >:(

Definately have to give it some thought !!! Especialy if the construction doesnt pick back up !!!!!!

I hear ya there!! Hard times right now in the industry. It sucks. Commerical seems to be picking up though, what work do you do?

Cabinet Installations in NEW homes, But Man I am telling you what, This really SUCKS !!!!!

not to toot my horn or anything, but I don't understand all the talk about insurance rates going up, mine was $650 last year and only went up about $20 this year,,,,,I'm 19 miles to the coast in a concrete block home that is on a hill,,,,guess that makes a difference?  :dunno.gif

Of course, my entire home could fit in the living room of my uncle's house.

Id@

Something to think about..... when you pay 3k a year for insurance on your 300K home,
and 5 years down the road Katrina comes along and whips out you home.. you paid 15k of coverage and are getting 285K back on your investment...not a  bad deal....  Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out the insurance company just took a huge loss.. Now imagine that on a 1000 homes..

I know every one says "I have no claims why are my rates going up?"
Just like the sign in Walmart reads "we have security cameras to keep our prices low"
Insurance companies are just like other businesses they make up their losses across the board.
Believe it or not, Insurance companies loose money on premiums alone, most put money into the stock market to make money in order to payout clams...This is why State Farm raised their rates so much after the stock market crashed after 9/11.

Also, this deal where they are trying to push out insurance companies that don't do Homeowners but due auto, is going to jack up auto rates... There are very few who do both Auto and H/O, and the ones that do just auto are "usually" cheaper. Now if the auto only companies leave that will create a monopoly type effect on the companies that do both since they will have the market cornered...


dang! made my head hurt! ;D

We haven't had any problems with ours rates haven't gone up and we have excellent coverage. We also have our truck insurance with the same company and we get a pretty big discount for it. We've had the same company for 5 yrs now and they are just awesome! They call you personally to see how things are going at least 1 or 2 times a year and if there is ANY discrepancy's I get a call asking if they can help. My Family all has this insurance and as far as I know have never had any problems. I guess it's all in who you pick

HoosierDaddy - I couldn't agree more.  Unfortunately, Insurance Companies don't (actually, aren't allowed) to raise only the rates of those that have claims.  They have to raise them across the board.  It is a necessary evil, only good when you need it.  But, when you do need it and a good agent wrote it right, you are extremely thankful!

While I do agree with your post the only thing that I can't seem to fathem is that what happend to all the money they collected prior to 3 years ago? I know we had 2 bad seasons but last season we had zero. So why are they still trying to mark up 50-70%? I can understand inflation of maybe 10% even 15% but Jesus Christ 50+%? Come on. That is just plain robbing home owners. I don't care how you look at it. I think the insurance companies saw the record profits the petroleum industry made in the last 2-3 yrs and decided to jump on the badwagon. F*&^ers. I swear it makes me sometimes wanna leave this F'n state.  -Mark

I dont think your seeing the big picture.. Even at 3k a year that you pay in premium, you would have to pay 100 yrs worth of premium to equal what an insurance company pays out on a 300k home..State Farm is really pushing these hikes since they are the #1 homeowner carrier in the US. Last I read they took in 1mil in net premium and have paid out 4.5bil... It doesnt take long to figure out the math on that. Why do you think homeowners is so hard to find? Theres no profit in it... if State farm pulls out of FL and all we have it the state pool (Citizens) be prepared to take it hard....

You are right and pretty will versed in insurance but one thing you don't mention is State Farm is the biggest but not the only. There are lots of other Homeower companies out there that have been in business for a while and are really quite good. I own a insurance company and we have 5 different companies we write through that will blow the doors off State Farm. Also if you are all waiting for some great relief from Christ don't hold your breath unless your one of the rich folks that live on the water they will be the ones making out on this deal.

Mine is being canceled because my roof is over 19 years old. I don't know the renewal rate yet. I'm getting roofing estimates right now. I'd rather put the money into a new roof than paying a really high increase by having to go with Citizens insurance.

Ok let me clear it up a little, what I meant was that the state pool will take pretty much everyone and since 99.9% companys wont write you a policy and State Farm clearly has the market share...If State farm left it will leave you pretty much with the pool.....because all you will just about have left is the state pool... How many of you have called and they gave you citizens? 

What 5 companies are these that you write with? How much business do you write in these companys VS. Citizens?  I as well as my wife, brother, and sister in law are all agents as well... ;)

An insurance company collects premiums state wide and nation wide. The past thirty-plus years in Florida (with exception to Andrew) we have seen almost zero storm related damaged until 2005 and 2006. Color me reactionary, but where did the billions and billions of dollars they raked in over those years go? I refuse to believe for one second that the insurance companies are hurting. They just dont want to take anymore big hits. No one goes into business not to make a profit , but this is like the oil industry, they cry poor and jack the price and make record profits. When is somebody going to stand up and fight for the WORKING MAN!!!!!

yeah... I guess your right.... I dont know what im talking about and I have this habit of making things up in my head... silly me, I should have known better than to talk about what my family and I have done for over 20 years...my mistake...  Oh and were not talking about the insurance industry as a whole, we were talking about homeowners in FL.

 

take it easy francis, nobodys doubting your credentials, but people have different opinions when it comes to this, that will most likely differ from yours considering its your livelyhood.

Oh, but we are talkin about the industry as a whole. If you are inferring what happens in other states does' not affect what happen's in Florida then why did the insurance companie's rep. say the increases are partly due to the wildfires in, where ever she said. I was too furious at the B.S. they are tryin to feed us to remember.

Since i didn't read your email we also write Universal, St Johns, Northern Capital, United, and Federated since you and your familly are in the buz then you know these companies know there prem. are not crazy and fair is fair we are the one of the most hurricane prone states around. If you are a State Farm agency maybe we can talk about your clients because we get alot of them everyday crying the blues and i can't blame them. And i hate to say your wrong about 99.9 going to the state pool we can write just about everything everywhere. There are some zip codes closed but right now not many.

I dont work for State Farm.. But this topic is going way over board.... so Im jumping ship..
I try not and get into debates with people on this forum, it proves to be pointless time and time again.
All I was tring to do is give the people who dont know the insurance  ins and outs a little bit of knowledge... well that blew up in my face.... :(    Ill let yall fight it out..

Thats fine but give them the right info telling people there gonna be forced into the state pool is as bad as the news media right now. Being in the business you should know that most of this crap is being blown out of proportion by the media. You can still insure a newer house (1999 or newer over here in South Florida 250k in coverage for about 2k if thats killing people then they should move its the taxes everybody should be bitching about.

all i know is 2 years ago i was paying 3,200.00 and now i m paying 5,600.00
i seriously dont know how the regular joe(like me
)does it.
ive had to cut back to one jar of peanut butter a day. ;D

If you think your payin too much for insurance, call some other agencie's & get some other quote's.

MAKE SURE your agent is NOT OVER VALUING YOUR HOME, they get paid a percantage of the premium so they might try to sell you too much coverage.

I think Citizen's is fixin to make some change's here soon.

I think the premium's might go down a little bit here in the next couple year's, but 5 yrs. from now they'll jack it back up to where it was.

One jar of peanut butter?? Oh how will you ever make it through your day on just one jar? lol ;)

There are other companies in additions to the ones that raca mentioned as well.  Unfortunately, most companies won't write homes over about 30 years old.  ASI, Universal, Cypress.  GREAT RATES!  But, they have to be new homes.  The people getting slammed (in a lot of the cases) all have older homes.

As for the making profits nationwide, most companies have separated the Florida Company from the other states.  So, if Florida suffers a loss, they don't make up for it with the profits from Idaho.  They are two separate companies, numbers, everything. 

Seperate companie's? Yeah, but for the most part they're still owned by the big companie's so as to limit corporate losses, or to be more accurate, not cut into the profit's.

Its just like the oil industry. Convince me other wise.... read these

http://www.flanews.com/?p=298 (http://www.flanews.com/?p=298)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16619029/ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16619029/)
http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBVWPNS9XE.html (http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBVWPNS9XE.html)

 With showing record profits and insurance companies paying less on claims it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that they are gouging homeowners. IF the increases were legit I'm sure that the ins companies and their lobbyist would put up more of a fight than the votes of 40-0 in the Senate and 116-2 in the House to pass a bill to stop the anal raping.   -Mark

I have read all the articles.  I understand both sides.  I am an agent and a consumer as well.  I agree, the increases are too high.  At the same time, people are mad because they are making a profit.  OF COURSE THEY ARE.  Would you open a business to lose money?  Insurance is a privilege, not a right.  These companies do not HAVE to write your policy.  Yes, they are making profits (not arguing that they are too high, I agree there) but, that is the nature of business.  To make money. 

I am not defending them completely, just trying to understand both sides.

im sorry but i dont feel that being forced to pay high premiums are a priviledge.
if thats the case then revoke my priviledged please.

we pay cause we dont have a choice and the insurance companies know it.

just like the oil companies charge what they want so does the insurance industry.

Ill mention this again, just in case . The state of Fl in 30yrs had little in the way of hurricane damage(with the exception of Andrew),and then we get the storms of 2004 and 2005. What happened to all those premiums that where paid ? Nationwide, there hasent been anymore or any less earthquakes,wildfires and tornadoes. So, the Ins. Industries  are taking in silly  money and they are dropping coverage to homeowners(when we have newer homes and have made no claims) and they have the balls to jack our rates before they drop us?
I dont care who you are , thats flat out theivery!! The honest ,hardworking ,family man is the one that suffers at the hand of these ridiculous rate hikes.

O.K., Now about the "older homes "issue, I work in " NEW" construction, have been a licensed contractor since I was 18yrs old in Michigan. I have seen some of the WORST craftsmanship in my life after I moved to Florida.
 I am NOT knocking all contractors, But face it, here everything is " subed out"------ So its get in & out and get paid, Or " looks good from my house"
attitude !!!!
 The point I am trying to make is that , these " older homes" are definately more " sound" than MOST new homes !!!!

i agree about the old home concept. my home  was built in 1963. heres some things you dont see no more.
1. tongue and groove roof(no plywood)
2.actual wood at bottom of wall to attach baseboard.
3.drywall with plaster on top and chickenwire at all joints.
4.steel conduit piping for electrical wiring.
5.copper piping(no pvc crap)
6.the walls are actually level and square.(what a concept)

I agree, it's amazing some of the stuff we see when we go to install flooring. We went out to 1 new house and 2 of the bedrooms had cinder blocks around the outside walls(footers) exposed inside. I guess when they set the walls the wall wasn't very think and we had to fill in the cinder blocks before we could put down carpet. When we install hard surfaces(tile, wood, etc.) we can't believe how far out of square these houses are. The sad part is the houses we do are usually Mid-high range homes.

I believe it is the Insurance Companies privilege to cover us and have us pay them. It is our right to purchase insurance at reasonable rates without being ripped off.

Like I said, I am not defending either side.  I completely understand both sides.  There are alternatives to having homeowners insurance.  Rent.  Not required there.  But, you are throwing your money away.  I get it.  Didn't want to debate the issue.  It is a rip off.  But, there are ways to avoid having to purchase it.  Just like the oil companies that keep being referred to.  You don't have to own a car.  That is a way to get around paying the high gas prices though.  Crazy not too though.  Or, you can buy an electric car.  There are alternatives to almost every evil, although some are not completely sane. 

As for the last 30 years, for ease of small numbers, say the company had 100 houses insured for 30 years at 1000 premium per year.  That is a total of 3,000,000 taken in.  Half of those were damaged in Andrew and it took (this is low)150,000 to rebuild that half.  That is a total paid out, at one time, of 7,500,000.  To me, it appears that those premiums were lost?  Not including small claims throughout the years.  And, the more houses you add as being insured, the more to have to add to the losses column.  The losses increase.

I agree, we pay too much but, there are reasons. 

Jut my 2cents. I own 2 homes, a nest of insured vehicles, including my ATV. I have been with State Farm for 20 years and they dropped the home I live in full time.  Why? Because it was less than 5 miles from the beach. 4.5 miles to be exact. Now here is my problem. It appears they will only unsure what I call the gravy assets. If there is any risk your gone. Any Joe can insure vehicles, second homes in central fla etc. I think if you insure in the state you should have to insure the whole deal. picking and choosing who and what is crap. We are getting scammed and I agree with Thrumud, maybe its time to get out of this state. We also pay 30% more on the national average in the cost of living just to live here. Go Figure. Hopefully soon they will see my trailer lights as I am heading out of here. That will be a good day.     

So how do you feel about companys who dont insure homes in ANY state?
Like Progressive, they just do auto (MC/ATV/RV/boat) in all the state but only sell homeowners in OH,MN, and AZ. Should they be forced to sell something they dont sell anywhere else but 3 states?

Grl , I think that most are OVERLOOKING that ins. compamies "invest" monies that are taken in, So the numbers are NOT exactly correct.
 If I remember correctly, Three years ago, after the storms we had here in Central Fl. State Farm reported the HIGHEST profit year in like twenty years !!!
     I still call BS onthe whole thing.
  Example, My family has ahd State farm ever since I can remember, the rates kept on CLIMBING. My parents switched to Hartford through there old folks ( AARP) their ins. went down by 30%. Now go figure !?!?!?!?/

im sorry but in the real world i live in there is no alternative to fuel or insurance.
are you saying that the landlords arent passing the buck when it comes to insurance and property taxes. they are called income-producing properties for that very reason.(to produce income)
dont even get me started on electric cars. the hybrids are so expensive it would take +/_ 5 years to recover the cost and they still use petroleum products.

they got us by the "huevos" and all we can say is "thank  you sir may i have another" ;D

 

As for the last 30 years, for ease of small numbers, say the company had 100 houses insured for 30 years at 1000 premium per year.  That is a total of 3,000,000 taken in.  Half of those were damaged in Andrew and it took (this is low)150,000 to rebuild that half.  That is a total paid out, at one time, of 7,500,000.  To me, it appears that those premiums were lost?  Not including small claims throughout the years.  And, the more houses you add as being insured, the more to have to add to the losses column.  The losses increase.

I agree, we pay too much but, there are reasons. 
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        Lets use real world numbers. Lets say insurance companies insured close to 15,982,000(april 2000 est.)  homes in florida at $1000.00....each for 1 year ,DO THE MATH!!! Andrew's cost of destruction was estimated at 1 or 2 billion . And how many more houses have been built since then? How many more billions have been collected since then? The insurance industry is trying to blow smoke up the people of Floridas behinds, and its not working!!!

The part about all of this that I find interesting is that the insurance companies want to jack up rates and drop anything with any risk, but they have been lobbying very hard against any changes to the requirements that citizens operates under.  We should let citizens operate just like any other company and provide a competitive rate.  The insurance companies say it is not fair because citizens does not have to be profitable....I say exactly.

I am in Pinellas County...My homeowners went from $1,700 to $3,100 this year for a $130,000 insurance policy!!!!...Check this out...Citizens would "only" be $2,400 for me but because they sold my policy last year to blindem, robbem, and cheatem insurance company, I am not eligible to buy from Citizens,,,actually, it is against the law!  My p+i is now less than escrow for taxes and insurance.   talk about being screwed and not even getting a kiss on the cheek afterwards

 garym,

Citizens had to release your policy to your current company by law since they offered coverage, I know it sucks HOWEVER you will be eligible for another company or back with Citizens at a lower premium, after one year.  You will not see a huge decrease now but will definitely see one at your renewal.  Take a look at your homeowner's declaration page, there are several things you are able to do to lower your premium, for example: Check the protection class and building code make sure the new company has your home rated correctly, (1-5 and 99), I'm not sure of the correct code for your area but your agent can send you the list OR go to www.citizensfla.com, look under manuals then look around it's under "Protection Class Codes" go under your county and you will see the correct code.  Check your hurricane and all perils (anything other than hurricane) deductibles, you really do not want to go any higher than 2% on hurricane but make sure you're at $1000 for all perils.  Also you can check to see if you have a replacement cost endorsement on your contents (coverage C) if you do you are paying about $200-$400 extra a year for the endorsement.  This will pay replacement cost on your content's not depreciate them.  You can also check you Liability every policy is written with the standard $300,00 but you have the option to lower that to $100,000.  I hope this helps ease the pain a little dude.

Any question's send me a p.m.

I will be happy to speak w/ agents who can write a policy in pinellas county....pm me

We need a NEW "Boston Tea Party/American Revolution" aimed at
corporate America. Regardless of how you try and justify it, it's plain
and simple in the end... GREED.

It's EASY to see that this is a pattern ALL big business is currently
following. Unjustly high rates/prices = unjustly high profits.

Whether it is Oil, Insurance, Medical, M$, RIAA/MPAA etc.

The truly profound thing is... the power IS actually in the people!
We just don't exercise it.  IF gas is too high, simply don't use it
except for work for a month. They'll get the message then and only
then.

They(corporations) know that if we won't sacrifice for just cost then
they can take it all.

If you think I am talking out my arse, ask yourself this...

How did Bill Gates, of Microsoft, become the richest man in the world,
while coincidentally his company also has the MOST percentage of product
stolen from it???

Well that's my .02's, refunds are glady given. Hehe

Dan