Foo - They cancelled my Homeowners Ins.

The Wife and I bought a new home 2 years ago outside of Tampa, FL. Today I get a letter from the Ins. Co. stating that my policy is cancelled because of "Reducing Catastrophe Exposure". I say WTF??? Okay the first year they charge me $1000 and upon renewal the second year they double it to $2000. Then drop me like a hot potato. Why not just drop me last year and not **** me $2000? I do not know what is worse, Ins. Co's. or lawyers. Now If I can't find a company to insure me for their 'ransom', I will have to go to the State run Citizens Ins.


:mad::mad::mad:

Now what?

help!

You mean Chain-gang Charlie hasn't fixed it all yet?


I don't know what to tell you....I was hearing these stories over and over before I left. I had a co-worker who's insurance went from about $1000 one year to $5000 the next.

move out of the hurricane zone

move out of the hurricane zone


This is my home here in Florida. Born and raised here. I love where I live. I'll pay a reasonable rate, but do not drop me after a year or so. "Okay, here is the plan guys, take $3000 of his money in a span of a year then send him a letter before he calls us." Just think how many homeowners they can do that to in Florida.

Bas
tards

Is there any kind of state Insurance Commissioner's office in FL? If there is it might be worth a call to it to report what happened. May not help you get any money back but could keep the creeps from doing it to someone else.

Is there any kind of state Insurance Commissioner's office in FL? If there is it might be worth a call to it to report what happened. May not help you get any money back but could keep the creeps from doing it to someone else.

Yes and the guy who used to run it just got elected governor.

"Reducing Catastrophe Exposure."

Sounds like the insurance industry believes in global warming.

Same ol' story. We just got switched to Citizens ourselves and our payment doubled. We're in a non evacuation zone and a non flood zone, in fact for what it's worth we'd be on an "island" if a major storm came through due to us being on "high ground".

Wow....this is what we have waitin for us ??

Sorry to hear that winfin :mad:

As I read the papers here this stuff is depressing. Its out
of control.

Sounds like the insurance industry believes in global warming.
indeed, they are true believers

Same ol' story. We just got switched to Citizens ourselves and our payment doubled. We're in a non evacuation zone and a non flood zone, in fact for what it's worth we'd be on an "island" if a major storm came through due to us being on "high ground".


Tru dat Raiyn. I live at a 77' elevation here in Hillsborough County. I kind of thought Citizens was cheaper, but I do not know for sure 'cause I never had to look into it before.:(

Before my father in Law decided to sell up and join us in the Carolinas, his insurance went up to $8000 a year with a $8000 deductible

indeed, they are true believers

Either that, or the believe too much $$ has been spent to build condos on the beach.

Tru dat Raiyn. I live at a 77' elevation here in Hillsborough County. I kind of thought Citizens was cheaper, but I do not know for sure 'cause I never had to look into it before.:(

Well we're on "high ground" for Pinellas county :rolleyes: I've lived in FL for 10 years now and didn't have any issues until Charley and his crew came through.

That's quite despicable of them. :(

y'all down there put the people into office that are standing by and letting this happen. Personally, I'd never for a second consider living on a sandbar, but be that as it may, you do. Seems you either have a lot of complaining, or a bit of moving to do - except good luck finding someone to buy your house under the present circumstances.

Can you recall your Governor? That might be the best way to fix things.

That's quite despicable of them. :(

y'all down there put the people into office that are standing by and letting this happen. Personally, I'd never for a second consider living on a sandbar, but be that as it may, you do. Seems you either have a lot of complaining, or a bit of moving to do - except good luck finding someone to buy your house under the present circumstances.

Can you recall your Governor? That might be the best way to fix things.


Sandbar, tornados, earthquakes, floods, mud slides, blizzards, forest fires, we all have some issue where we choose to live. In fact I am trying to think of an area of the country that is immune to natural or man made disasters.

That's quite despicable of them. :(

y'all down there put the people into office that are standing by and letting this happen. Personally, I'd never for a second consider living on a sandbar, but be that as it may, you do. Seems you either have a lot of complaining, or a bit of moving to do - except good luck finding someone to buy your house under the present circumstances.

Can you recall your Governor? That might be the best way to fix things.

That's the whole thing, we had special representative sessions to "fix" things, but the companies have found loopholes to exploit.

As far where I live, better the enemy I know, and can see coming, than the one I can't. (ie Cullyfornia earthquakes)

Sandbar, tornados, earthquakes, floods, mud slides, blizzards, forest fires, we all have some issue where we choose to live. In fact I am trying to think of an area of the country that is immune to natural or man made disasters.
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I rarely hear of major disasters in the northeast, or the mountain states (as long as you dont live IN the forest).... Sure, there's ice storms, blizzards, etc, but they rarely wipe out houses. Floods? You're either in a flood zone, or not.

I find it striking that the insurance company dropped coverage entirely.

I agree with all of you who think insurance providers are predatory, and tangled up in politics. But isn't this insurance company saying: not any price. They aren't making a dime in income from this decision (they're losing a customer); instead they are trying to prevent losses in the future. They'd prefer to insure safer bets.

Sure all regions of the country have disasters. But it does seem the insurance companies see the hurricane-afflicted areas as greater risks than years ago.

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I rarely hear of major disasters in the northeast, or the mountain states (as long as you dont live IN the forest).... Sure, there's ice storms, blizzards, etc, but they rarely wipe out houses. Floods? You're either in a flood zone, or not.

Yeah, I've thought about Colorado or the Pac. NW, but my girlfriend is a FL native and is totally wussified when it comes to cold weather. I'm totally fine with it having grown up in Northern MN, but not her.

Yeah, I've thought about Colorado or the Pac. NW, but my girlfriend is a FL native and is totally wussified when it comes to cold weather. I'm totally fine with it having grown up in Northern MN, but not her.
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The coastal NW is highly earthquake prone, as long as we're talking disaters. Colorado cold isnt all that bad, IMO. I'm wussified about FLA's humid heat. Yuck...

One of the many reasons I'm ready to abandon this place to the developers and snowbirds. I'm one of the few that actually got transferred from Citizens to Southern Fidelity a few years back. It didn't save me anything though and ours has gone up ~$1000 a year since. I'm a 5th generation native of Tampa and seeing what this state has become compared to what I grew up in disgusts me; if the housing market weren't so bad and all of our family (and business) weren't here I'd be in Denver in a heartbeat.

Sandbar, tornados, earthquakes, floods, mud slides, blizzards, forest fires, we all have some issue where we choose to live. In fact I am trying to think of an area of the country that is immune to natural or man made disasters.

Immune? Nope. There is a lot of difference between areas when it comes to frequency and extent of devastation due to natural disasters. Insurance companies are very keen to identify and quantify the risks inherent with insuring a building in one location versus another. I'll take the blizzard every 4-5 years and play the lottery on quite uncommon tornadoes here in Pennsylvania, over risking major earthquakes in California, or hurricanes and flooding along the coast. My homeowner's insurance confirms to me that I've made a reasonably safe choice. Yeah, winter can suck here, but short of having a house for every season, that wouldn't be ideal anywhere (except maybe coastal San Diego - but there we'd be back on the coast and in earthquake country).

Do you know if your insurer is still covering houses in other parts of the state, or did they just leave the state entirely? Did the state give them the ultimatum to charge less, or leave the market? Have they decided that in order to provide insurance in your area, they'd have to charge more money than customers would possibly want to pay? Before jumping to the conclusion that the insurance company, or the state is the bad guy (like I did in my previous post :o), a little more investigation would seem to be in order.

Talk to a manager at your old insurer and see why they say they left. Check and see if their story stands up by checking the legal changes that have been made. Call around and see what alternatives you have. If it seems that the government really botched things, get involved with a group to try to fix it. Good luck with your situation. Despite the fact that you do live in a higher risk area, it's clear you're being treated far more poorly than seems fair.

colorado only has a water problem

Being an Indiana boy (tornados) that moved to Cali (earthquakes), then to FL (Hurricanes)....Here's my take:

Earthquakes don't convert barns into giant fly projectiles.

Hurricanes move slow enough that there's no excuse for having evacuation fusterclucks

Honestly I'd like to see tornado annual losses compared to hurricane annual losses and see what's up....I bet it's the spikes the damage costs, not the average costs that are upsetting insurance co's....and tough titties, that's the cost of running an insurance co.

Catatonic - it's the scale of the potential damage that makes hurricane and earthquake prone areas such insurance risks. If you're a company, and you do all your business in one area, claims on a significant proportion of the properties you insure could quickly send you out of business. Devastation associated with other sorts of natural disasters (tornadoes, hailstorms, blizzards, etc) don't cause near as much destruction. Tornadoes can cause immense damage, but over a limited area. Hailstorms and blizzards can affect large areas, but typically the damage is much less severe.

The thing is insurance companies minimize risk by using reinsurance, a means by which an insurance company can protect itself against the risk of losses with other insurance companies. Individuals and corporations obtain insurance policies to provide protection for various risks . Reinsurers, in turn, provide insurance to insurance companies. This way were catastrophe to hit an area a localized company wouldn't be so heavily impacted. Tho' there are very few mom & pop insurance companies writing in high risk areas.

The Wife and I bought a new home 2 years ago outside of Tampa, FL. Today I get a letter from the Ins. Co. stating that my policy is cancelled because of "Reducing Catastrophe Exposure". I say WTF??? Okay the first year they charge me $1000 and upon renewal the second year they double it to $2000. Then drop me like a hot potato. Why not just drop me last year and not **** me $2000? I do not know what is worse, Ins. Co's. or lawyers. Now If I can't find a company to insure me for their 'ransom', I will have to go to the State run Citizens Ins.


:mad::mad::mad:

Now what?

help!

I don't understand. You're high risk. You should expect high premiums. Yes?

If the insurance company thought they could make money on you at $2000, don't you think they'd sell you a policy?

What am I missing?

The Wife and I bought a new home 2 years ago outside of Tampa, FL. Today I get a letter from the Ins. Co. stating that my policy is cancelled because of "Reducing Catastrophe Exposure". I say WTF??? Okay the first year they charge me $1000 and upon renewal the second year they double it to $2000. Then drop me like a hot potato. Why not just drop me last year and not **** me $2000? I do not know what is worse, Ins. Co's. or lawyers. Now If I can't find a company to insure me for their 'ransom', I will have to go to the State run Citizens Ins.


:mad::mad::mad:

Now what?

help!


What do you have against big businesses making business decisions applying rational statistics and analysis? Why do you think they should coddle and protect you without charging you their expected cost?

As for the state run Citizens Insurance, I guess you are glad that there are some "socialist" ideas still used in American government?

Great freaking timing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

win must live in a flood zone. They try to pull the same crap on Californians. Insurance is only for those who are not at risk to the company. Is this one of the reasons; I think I read , Florida is finally seeing some out migration.

I do not know what is worse, Ins. Co's. or lawyers.


Lawyers who represent insurance companies.

Great freaking timing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. While I agree that businesses should be allowed to operate without gov't intervention to a large degree, I can't help but wonder if the Ins company had decided to cancel policies according to a certain pattern some time ago knowing full well that they were collecting premiums during a timeframe of little risk.

Here is a suggestion for the truly brave: Since the cancellation is formal, there should be no reason that the information cannot be made public. Call the local news agencies. Letters to newspaper editors, citing only facts, should be protected from libel. BTW, I am not a lawyer.

Business advocates often cite capitalism as justification for businesses to operate as they please. It ought to smack them in the backside if they don't operate fairly.

Was the name of the company cited here?

Its a little more complicated than 'High Risk = high $$$' here....
I read about it everyday in the FL. papers and there is a little more to it
than that.. Thats for nother thread tho'......
Its just another rotation of the cycle of shameless profiteering by insurance
and governmental entities. Its part of the govt. sponsored payback to insurance
companies after Katrina. Take some money and run before hurricane season.
In Vermont we had our mortgage provider slap us with 1,000 a year flood insurance.
Our house was 1/4 acre off of a small creek and built on the side of hill, a good 30ft.
above the water. There was not enuff water on southern Vermont to flood it. We appealed,
we lost. Bu$h congress snuck through legislation that lets insurance companies arbitrarily
break the original terms of a mortgage and force homeowners to pay for flood insurance.
If you have water in your state, you to could be at risk for this extortion, too !
Its all a cycle perpetuated by greed. Developers own local politicians, insurance companies
profit off the development that came about due to payoffs to the local politician.......

What do you have against big businesses making business decisions applying rational statistics and analysis? Why do you think they should coddle and protect you without charging you their expected cost?

As for the state run Citizens Insurance, I guess you are glad that there are some "socialist" ideas still used in American government?

Oh, dear God, please tell me you're being sarcastic....

I'm not gonna go off here, 'cause this whole thread winds up in P&R, if I do. Let's just say my head's getting ready to explode.

Yeah, I've thought about Colorado or the Pac. NW, but my girlfriend is a FL native and is totally wussified when it comes to cold weather. I'm totally fine with it having grown up in Northern MN, but not her.

Up here it's the looming fear that there will be a quake along the Cascadia subduction zone, an almost 700 mile long rift that sits 50 miles off the coast. If that happens, then we're looking at a tsunami that would make landfall in about 30 minutes (which is too fast for the detection systems to pick it up in time for an evacuation.)
Either that, or Rainier is gonna pop and cover everything from Washington to Nebraska with ash.

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The coastal NW is highly earthquake prone, as long as we're talking disaters. Colorado cold isnt all that bad, IMO. I'm wussified about FLA's humid heat. Yuck...

I've been involved in research as to what the earthquake hazards are here in western CO, and it doesn't look like anything has moved here in quite some time.

I've been involved in research as to what the earthquake hazards are here in western CO, and it doesn't look like anything has moved here in quite some time.
Is that because we're geologically stable?... Or does it mean we're due for a really big one?
.

Oh, dear God, please tell me you're being sarcastic....

I'm not gonna go off here, 'cause this whole thread winds up in P&R, if I do. Let's just say my head's getting ready to explode.



My sarcasm comes from the arguments that Waggy posts on a regular basis in P&R -- it is truly humorous the way wags lambasts government programs providing consumers some modicum of protection from abuse by big business and then comes over here in foo and whines about the way he is being abused by big business and intends to rely on the stop-gap coverage by government.

Is that because we're geologically stable?... Or does it mean we're due for a really big one?
.

It's probably pretty stable geologically. Small hiccups around here are mainly due to isostatic uplift or mining activity. All the tectonic excitement went away several million years ago. No big ones anymore.

Sandbar, tornados, earthquakes, floods, mud slides, blizzards, forest fires, we all have some issue where we choose to live. In fact I am trying to think of an area of the country that is immune to natural or man made disasters.

You're right. Everyplace has risks associated with it. Unfortunately for you, you're living somewhere with very high risks. Insurance premiums reflect the amount of risk. On the flip side, you don't pay state income tax :)

My sarcasm comes from the arguments that Waggy posts on a regular basis in P&R -- it is truly humorous the way wags lambasts government programs providing consumers some modicum of protection from abuse by big business and then comes over here in foo and whines about the way he is being abused by big business and intends to rely on the stop-gap coverage by government.

Ah, gotcha. Carry on, then....

So much for retiring to Florida.:(

Seriously, I hate insurance companies. Two I talked to last time I checked out quotes on our house wanted to require flood coverage. Let's just say that if where my house sits ever floods you need to be looking for animals heading for a big boat two by two.

It's legal racketeering.

I was under the impression that it was up to the mortgage companies as to whether or not flood insurance was required. Am I wrong?

colorado only has a water problem

Wildfires? John Elway's teeth?


And as for the PNW, just wait until Mount Ranier blows its top. BOOM!!!! Goodbye Grungeville.


We have lovely tornadoes here in the midwest. They're a crapshoot, though. You get to the basement and hope it doesn't hit you in the next 15 minutes. I'd rather have to just react quickly than the whole week's worth of doom/gloom waiting to see if Hurricane (insert name here) is going to track my way as it fluxuates between tropical depression and Cat 5 madness.

Colorado cold isnt all that bad, IMO. I'm wussified about FLA's humid heat. Yuck...
I grew up with winters that would hit -50 before the wind chill, so I don't think Colorado has anything for me to sweat :lol: too much. As far as the FL heat I agree, but then again I followed a girl down here (ain't it always the way?) and I liked the fact that I could wear shorts comfortably in the winter. <shrug>


Earthquakes don't convert barns into giant fly projectiles.No, but they knock 'em into toothpicks on the spot.


Hurricanes move slow enough that there's no excuse for having evacuation fusterclucks
You'd think so, but with the "fan of uncertainty" most people will wait until the last minute because chances are it will turn just enough. Given that we're on a peninsula there's only so many routes out and they will get clogged quickly. Remember Hurricane Ivan? That sucker was headed right for us, so we split, and the ****ing thing followed us and ended up hitting the area we evacuated to. Mind you, we saw that it passed the Bay area so we hauled butt back before it hit the panhandle


Up here it's the looming fear that there will be a quake along the Cascadia subduction zone, an almost 700 mile long rift that sits 50 miles off the coast. If that happens, then we're looking at a tsunami that would make landfall in about 30 minutes (which is too fast for the detection systems to pick it up in time for an evacuation.)
Either that, or Rainier is gonna pop and cover everything from Washington to Nebraska with ash.Well there's always the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered an active volcano; it has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years, and some folks believe it's overdue to pop as well.

What do you have against big businesses making business decisions applying rational statistics and analysis? Why do you think they should coddle and protect you without charging you their expected cost?

As for the state run Citizens Insurance, I guess you are glad that there are some "socialist" ideas still used in American government?


Here is what I expect. The Ins. debacle in Florida was no different two years ago when I contracted for the home to be built, than it is now. When my agent found this Co. and they agreed to insure me for $1000, even $2000 the following year, I expected them to not tell me to bend over and take one up 'there', when they knew damn well I was only going to be a temporary client. My situation AND the insurance situation in Florida were identicle then as it is now. Nothing has changed, so I ask, why did they even accept me as a new client? And to cancel me when a hurricane is on the map headed west, is more of a cut and run then anything I've even seen in politics lately.

I don't expect to be coddled as you say, I expect to not take one up the @$$. Whether I buy Citizens that is available or not, the mortgage company will make sure their interest is insured.

Here's some fun.

The state has a site: http://www.floir.com/ which links to this.
http://www.shopandcomparerates.com/HOCompareRates.htm

Looks like one insurer is consistently waaay more expensive than the others.

I wonder what the laws are for insurers... wouldn't be real surprised if something odd has been legislated, making a couple of insurers wish to get out of Florida altogether.

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I rarely hear of major disasters in the northeast, or the mountain states (as long as you dont live IN the forest).... Sure, there's ice storms, blizzards, etc, but they rarely wipe out houses. Floods? You're either in a flood zone, or not.

as we say in buffalo every time the south gets leveled by a storm: "You can always shovel a blizzard":rolleyes:

4 months to skiing!!

Perhaps they will just cancel it for the hurricane season and let you renew afterwards? :rolleyes: