Homeowners' Insurance

Oh you are not alone. We live up near Tampa and our insurance went sky high. We had to go in and knock a lot down and that believe it or not saved us almost $3000 and we are still paying twice what we did before. My sister got the house back in 2000 and we have the insurance and taxes built into the mortgage. Her mortgage payment each month has tripled since then and it's all because of insurance. It's crazy. Yes the cut backs and the new laws will help but as Christ stated it's just the beginning. I'm really hoping they get in the one that says if a company offers car insurance here and also offers house insurance in other states they must offer it here. That will stop some of these companies from not offering it to Floridians. Many homes are going up for sale here and they aren't selling because people find out the cost of the insurance and they can't afford it. I'm seeing some that state they will pay first year insurance. I'm sure this is so some won't realize how much it is until after they have boughten the house. It's ridiculous and you know with the recent tornado damage to Central Florida the insurance companies will use it to try and raise the rates again. They make money off people for years and then when they do have to pay they scream. I know many who filed a claim a few years ago after Charlie and the others went through. Most were given joke amounts, not enough to pay for the new roofs they needed etc. The state really needs to go after these insurance companies and figure out a way to help Floridians otherwise like you many will move or go without insurance if possible.

I am sorry you are going thi sthis. I have heard this going on alot with neighbors and the in laws. I have also noticed more homes are up for sale. Compared to when I moved down to Florida two years ago. I can't believe how everything has jumped so high. I know I only rent off my in laws but if we owned a house. We would loose it because we would not be able to afford the insurance rates. Not with only mt husband working. Since I have become disabled.

My husband and I just moved to Wesley Chapel, Fl. in December. We bought a house and we were shocked by our homeowners insurance. We are paying over $4000 a year for it. We moved here because my husband was offered a better job, but thr cost of homeowners swallowed a lot of that raise. It is depressing to know that this can be done to people.

Wow, that is outrageous!! No wonder you are thinking about leaving!! I don't know how they could refuse to sell you insurance. It is required with a loan on the house. What are people to do? People cannot afford that!!

My parents have a winter home in Largo and it is a mobile home and they were faced with the same thing last year, and it was even harder to find a home owners insurance to cover their mobile home. I think it has alot to do with the bad hurricane season last year (not this past season the one before)

Tis a real shame when honest and hard working folks cannot live their retirement time in peace and comfort. There should be whole companies that do nothing but cater to older Amercians managing their finite finances in their fun years. Perhaps you could afford a move to Arizona, warm, not any hurricanes and perhaps less expensive living. Hope that this works out for you. Really do!

This is not going to make you feel any better at all Claudia but it happens here too in Australia but not because of hurricanes of course. A few years ago our home was broken into and seriously damaged by vandals. At the time we had been away but returned a couple of days before although were not at home. We had actually bought a caravan down south and left it at a friends' place so left it there, went home to check on the house etc and back to friends to catch up with them. Either that night or the following one house was broken into. All the usual, police called etc and they were investigating. Started to clean mess up and then a week or so later, another break-in and this time we claimed on the insurance. First time ever we had made a claim in 25 years with this particular company who had all our insurance, i.e. home, contents, car, farm equipment etc. The Insurance co was so offensive it was not pleasant and 6 months later we were still trying to collect from them. Nearly all of our furniture etc destroyed, we were underinsured on contents which made matters worse. In the end they did pay up but only because we had the solicitor send them a letter in reply to one they sent to us. In actual fact we had only paid the insurance premium about a month before the break-in. Before the year was up I organised another insurance company which was just as well as those rotters who had taken our money for all those years, cancelled our policy for the house. I cancelled the rest of them. People do have insurance for a reason, i.e. to cover the risk and insurance companies accept the premiums on the basis that they accept the risk. From there it follows that if there is a claim, then the insurance company has an obligation to check it out and then pay the dammed thing. Some of our furniture was quite old and we hadn't realised it had increased in value so much which was a real problem. But I pointed out to them that their agent had been in our house and had seen what we had, so he had an obligation to tell us we didn't have enough insurance. As time went on we had more fun, but this time it was with the vehicles. We drive a lot of kilometers every year, most of it on rural roads where there are kangaroos which have been known to jump out in front of cars. We had 4 claims in 8 years and had only claimed when major damage was done, but the Insurance company said they wouldn't cover us anymore. Guess what, they had been happily taking our money for 10 years and we had paid more out in premiums for 3 vehicles than we ever made a claim for. So we had to go through an Insurance broker - luckily we have one who is a good friend - to get insurance. We are on lifetime no claim bonus ratings which means it is the lowest premium level but then again my husband has had car insurance for 40 years, me for 37 years and our son for 12 years now. Before the kangaroos my husband had made 2 claims, I had made 1 and our son none. Insurance companies and I are not at all good friends and their ranking in my opinion is on a par with used car salesmen. LOL Next one for the soapbox.

This is a classic example of the market at work and the problems that occur when the government gets involved in the market. Insurance, including homeowners insurance, is designed to spread the cost of a loss that is anticipated to randomly affect certain members of a group. The practice of using insurance started a few centuries ago when trade was expanding and fortunes could be made by financing a ship that was being sent abroad to trade. If the ship made it back to England safely with a cargo of goods from the Far East or the New World those that invested in the ship could get a return of a 1,000% or more. But, they lost their entire investment (which was usually a large sum of money) if the ship was sunk in a storm or captured by pirates, etc. Knowing that a certain number of ships would not return, but not knowing which ones, investors would set up pools in which each investor would put up money to be used to reimburse those who lost their ships (those that lost ships would get all or part of their investment back, not the potential profit). Obviously, the more ship owners who joined the pool and the lower the anticipated losses, the less each had to put up in order to recoup their investment if their ship was one of the ones lost. Obviously, the anticipated losses would increase during times of war, as well as for ships setting sail during seasons of high storms or sailing into areas with high pirate activity, etc. and thus, the amount each had to put up for insurance would increase. Rising insurance costs for shipping investors encouraged them to invest in voyages to safer places as well as to invest in ways to improves a ship's ability to weather storms and outrun or fight off pirates and enemy warships, thereby reducing thier risk of loss and cost of insurance. In the case of South Florida, growth and land prices have been rising steadily for years as the climate and other amenities attracted many people. However, hurricanes appear to have a cycle and we appear to be moving into a period of higher hurricane activity (as a child in the 1950s I remember news reports of the frequent destructive hurricanes in Florida and then the drop off of hurricane activity in the years that followed). As the threat of property damage from hurricanes increases, rising insurance rates will cause people to make (but not necessarily like making) adjustments by moving out of South Florida, by investing in ways to make their property more resistant to hurricane damage, etc. As people move out of the area, the increased supply of properties for sale coupled with decreased demand for properties in the area will cause housing prices to fall. Fewer people and or lower prices properties in the area will cause insurance rates to fall since it will cost less to cover the financial losses incurred (if a home is worth $200,000 and is destroyed it costs the insurance company $200,000 to cover the damage - if it is only worth $100,000 then the insurance company only has to pay $100,000). While not pleasant, the process does allow each individual to select the option that best fits their needs, whether it be to look for another place with a similar climate and amenities but without hurricanes, investing in strenghtening their property to better withstand hurricanes, accept the fact that it will cost more to live in South Florida and pay it because they can both afford it and prefer S Florida to other places, or some other solution. The problem here is not the insurance company, since the only way they can acquire the funds to pay for the losses their insurerds incur is to raise the rates accordingly, but sweet old Mother Nature who is demonstrating that she is anything but kind and loving.

I think you should have homeowners insurance no matter where you live but liging in an area like South Florida where hurricanes are a big thing it is definately important for you to have it especially with the amount of hurricanes that have been happeneing the past couple years.

It typical of these insurance companies. They just want to gouge their customers. You are required to have insurance, but the minute a claim is file they want to increase your premiums. I think the legislature should do more, because it seems to be affecting quite a number of people. Your retirement savings should not be spent on insurance etc, its a shame.

when you live in south florida you can expect hurricanes. since the hurricanes hit 3 years ago, we who live in the midwest have also suffered higher insurance premiums. Then it hit New Orleans, and we still get hit with higher premiums! we've never made a claim either, but when the country has had all of these natural disasters, EVERYONE SUFFERS!!! So, i guess if i could not afford to pay those high premiums, i'd move. its ashame,, but i guess it could be worse..

Oh my goodness after reading the amount that you have to pay that is disgraceful and that would be the reason the amount of houses are being sold at such a rapid rate. Well I do hope and pray that you will be able to get out of Florida and live somewhere else before they take all your money from you.

Insurance is a ripoff. You pay and pay and pay against the day you might have a claim, and then when you do, they raise your rates to get their money back. Who else can base your rates on your age, gender and/or marital status? Anyone else trying that is accused of discrimination and subject to law suits. Years ago I used to write insurance so I know some other little "tricks" they pull, definitely unethical if not outright illegal. But what choice do you have? Dare you risk you home if you don't carry insurance? Would you be in a position to rebuild if, God forbid, a hurricane or other disaster were to strike? You could move out of state, leave your home, your friends. But just about everywhere has its own high risk natural disasters, try getting earthquake insurance in California. I think this is what is referred to as having you by the short hairs. OK, whose next for the soapbox?

my dear friend i lived in palm beach the moved to the west coast in sarasota,fl when charlie came thru,then ivan,then francis,my homeowners was cancelled,and had to get state insurance,which is a joke,i have since moved to georgia where i have a 3500 sq.ft. home on an acre on land and i pay 1200 per year for homeowners insurance,now don't get me wrong i miss being in fl.but i can always visit orlando is only 8 hrs. away naples 10 1/2,west palm 10 hrs. away.buti'll get used to it ilike it in the ga.mountains nice and peacefull.also my car insurance dropped to half of what i was paying in fl.and like you say wilma came in from the west and went right across the state,maybe after last years non hurricane event things will change ,but i doubt it.good luck

so myni save for insur some mone

dear i also want insurance but homeowners insurance i think not

ya it is good for every house owner........

hello, usa.