By Blondie

July 6, 2009 8:59 AM | Link to this

Just another homeowner going “bare”! I have owned my home for 20 years. The premium was $414 every year till 2000. This covered homeowner’s and wind. I had to drop the hurricane insurance 2 years ago when my new quote, for wind only, came in at just under $15,000!!!! Add the Homeowner’s at $2500. That is an over 4000% increase! I do not live on the water or in a flood zone. I live in the City of West Palm Beach in a home built in the ‘20’s. Most companies won’t even touch me because of the risk and after being dropped in 2005 I had to go with Citizens. My home survived the 1926, 1928 and every other hurricane along the way for over 80 years and I’m that big of a risk? It’s nothing more than legalized extortion. My mortgage payment a month is about $200 and I owe just a bit over $20K. Thank heavens that bank had allowed me to drop the windo coverage. My current mortgage payment with homeowner’s insurance and taxes is about $600 a month. With hurricane insurance, it would be over $2000 a month! The insurance industry is shameless!

By Bo

July 4, 2009 9:18 AM | Link to this

Let’s see now….do I want to pay for hurricane insurance on my house in Florida? Or do I want to pay for insurance on other peoples houses in California’s earthquake zone?

Um….I’ll take Florida.

By JorjaNorma

July 3, 2009 4:37 PM | Link to this

Oh boy! We’ll get to pay for THREE policies. No way a tax subsided cat fund will cover losses. We’ll still pay for flood and our own policies. No thanks!

By Old Agent

July 3, 2009 4:03 PM | Link to this

Sorry for the typing errors in my last comment!! JorgANorma you have no idea as to insurance!! It is a spread of risk. In my last go around with the public I convinced Insurance commissioner Nelson to approve a 2% deduction!!

By JorjaNorma

July 3, 2009 2:38 PM | Link to this

Oh boy! We’ll get to pay for THREE policies. No way a tax subsided cat fund will cover losses. We’ll still pay for flood and our own policies. No thanks!

By Old Agent

July 3, 2009 2:17 PM | Link to this

Everybody is a little wrong and a little right!! The Federal flood Insurance is working out for everyubody!! Let their be Federal windstorm coverasge up to a certain amount with a 2% deductible. Let the insurance companies provide the excess wind!! iI is that simple!!

By Old Agent

July 3, 2009 2:16 PM | Link to this

Everybody is a little wrong and a little right!! The Federal flood Insurance is working out for everyubody!! Let their be Federal windstorm coverasge up to a certain amount with a 2% deductible. Let the insurance companies provide the excess wind!! iI is that simple!!

By shell

July 3, 2009 2:15 PM | Link to this

Owned a home for 10 years now on the Treasure Coast. Never made a claim, not even after Frances and Jeanne hit us. In 5 years insurance went from 900/yr to 4600/yr b/c my home is 30 yrs plus old. Sure would love to see something done. B/c of my sky high insurance i’m about to lose my home to foreclosure b/c i can’t afford the escrow for the insurance. Pretty sad when your insurance makes your escrow more than your Principal and interest. If it weren’t for the mortgage I’d say to heck with it and not even bother with insurance and take my chances. Isn’t anything anyone is gonna do now to fix it I’m afraid.

By Mordy Ki

July 3, 2009 12:02 PM | Link to this

HURRICANE SCAM ALERT!!!

Here’s how it works. You suffer damage to your property. Your insurance company refuses to pay the full amount that it will take to repair your property. Someone recommends a Public Adjuster Claim Service to you. The salesman (who works on commission) states that his company is the best in the business, guarantees that he will get you the additional money that you need to fully repair the damage and will do all of this quickly. All of this is offered for a fee of 20% of the additional money you get when the claim is settled. Out of financial and emotional desperation, you sign their contract. You are now officially scammed.

Be advised that a Public Adjuster Claim Service is nothing more than a licensed insurance salesman. He has no more influence over your insurance company than you do.

Before you sign a Public Adjuster Claim Service contract (they are all from the same “boilerplate”), know that this contract can NEVER be cancelled (after the three-day right to rescind has passed), does not have a termination or expiration date, does not specify what will be specifically provided or delivered, lives on until the claim is settled, cannot be terminated for failure to deliver (breach of contract) and the Public Adjuster Claim Service is legally entitled to receive his fee (because of the contract wording) even if he has nothing to do with the settlement. In fact, he doesn’t have to do a thing to collect his full fee!

In my case, after I signed his contract, it was filed away waiting for someone to settle the claim. It is guaranteed money to the Public Adjuster Claim Service.

The Public Adjuster Claim Service that I contracted with did nothing for seven months – not even call me. I fired them – I thought. I hired an attorney who settled the case/claim 15 months later. Because of the Public Adjuster Claim Service contract, I was still obligated to pay his $19,000 fee.

If this sounds like sour grapes, call the State of Florida Consumer Protection Agency (877-693-5236) and ask them to verify my statements and the reputation of the Public Adjuster Claim Service. The only way to stop this cheating scam is to change the law. Better yet, don’t sign a Public Adjuster Claim Service contract.

Hire an attorney if you need to and don’t let them charge you more than a 20% fee. And a reputable contractor will provide a free quote to repair your damage that can be given to your attorney to forward to your insurance company.

BEWARE. DON’T HIRE A PUBLIC ADJUSTER CLAIM SERVICE. You will be scammed like me.

By Mr. Insurance

July 3, 2009 11:27 AM | Link to this

Many responsible folks have paid their premiums for decades to statefarm and allstate to name a few. These insurers invested a great deal of money in the stock market and lost big time. They have collected billions for years, not to mention that nationally, they collect billions every year, yet pup companies had to be created because when a comparison is made nationally on what they bring in versus what they pay, they cannot justify an increase. This is a license to steal and our legistators allos this to happen. Consumers are losing the battle.

By SOUTHERN YANKEE

July 3, 2009 10:58 AM | Link to this

Solution is a no-brainer. Pass a law that doesn’t allow mortgagers to “require” insurance. Most sane people will protect their assets and this will promote more competition between the companies. It works because the present system will go belly up anyway if we have another “big one.”

By Arthro

July 2, 2009 11:49 PM | Link to this

Sorry, Ron, while I agree that we need a Federal Cat Fund, it will be a hard sell to convince the other 49 states that we need this as long as Florida continues to mismanage the proerty insurance system within the state with an $18 billion Cat Fund shortage and overregulated rates. Gov Crist’s veto of HB 1171 without putting any other viable alternative on the table has all but guaranteed a federal bailout once we get a hurricane. Most leaders in other states aren’t really paying attention, but would insist that Florida handle our own issues instead of passing them off on other states. For example, we don’t have a state income tax while many other states do. Why shouldn’t they expect us to have a state income tax before we get other states to subsidize our risks?

Crist has put us on a track for a financial catastrophe. The legislature should override his veto or have a special session to come up with another alternative.

By HypoluxoDon

July 2, 2009 6:16 PM | Link to this

I moved to Florida eight years ago and live one-half mile from the ocean along the intracoastal. I have found my insurance easy to obtain and not especially unreasonable. When I moved here I realized I might suffer losses from hurricanes. Why should I expect taxpayers in other states to underwrite any losses I might sustain for choosing to live in a hurricane area? This appears to be a way to shift Florida losses to other parts of the country. It is time for people to realize there is a price to be paid for living in certain areas in the country and if you are not willing to take these risks maybe you should rethink where you choose to live.

By HypoluxoDon

July 2, 2009 6:15 PM | Link to this

I moved to Florida eight years ago and live one-half mile from the ocean along the intracoastal. I have found my insurance easy to obtain and not especially unreasonable. When I moved here I realized I might suffer losses from hurricanes. Why should I expect taxpayers in other states to underwrite any losses I might sustain for choosing to live in a hurricane area? This appears to be a way to shift Florida losses to other parts of the country. It is time for people to realize there is a price to be paid for living in certain areas in the country and if you are not willing to take these risks maybe you should rethink where you choose to live.

By North County Resident

July 2, 2009 5:43 PM | Link to this

Insurance has become a serious issue in my household. First Our homeowners insurance with state farm has been canceled. I will pay my last premium over 35 years next week. We have never had a claim and have paid over 20,000 in just the last five years for average coverage five miles from the ocean. To make matters worse our boat insurance with Zurich Marine was also cancelled. Our insurance premium only covered a total loss. Our deductable was nearly eight thousand dollars. We were unfortunate to have a lightening strike just two weeks ago. None of the damage is covered by insurance. In florida you pay for catastrophic losses only. I can not imagine why these companies are leaving the state. My premiums have been a gold mine for them. Straight to the bottom line.

Congressman Klein we need help. What we are spending on insurance is leaving the state. How can we pay for our medical insurance, college tuition for our children, fund our retirement and grow the local economy. Us wage slaves can not take care of everythng.