Posted on 08/30/2007 3:04:27 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
Palm Harbor, Florida - Andrea Weiler of Palm Harbor knows what it's like to have her homeowners insurance policy dropped by Nationwide Insurance. She got her notice in March.
Weiler says she never filed a claim and always paid on time, but that didn't matter. She got the non-renewal notice shortly after legislators announced they had fixed the insurance crisis in a special session.
The President of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents says legislative efforts to fix insurance are driving some companies away.
Weiler says after calling 13 companies, she was able to find one willing to write her a new homeowners insurance policy.
But Fidelity is charging about $3,700 a year, about $300 more than her policy with Nationwide.
Nationwide says most policy holders being dropped may receive coverage from Security First Insurance. Customers can also shop for other coverage, or go with state-backed Citizens Property Insurance.
Good luck with Citizens
Life comes at you fast!
Nationwide - Is NOT on YOUR side!
Ms Weiler should send a letter to her legislator thanking him for fixing her insurance problem.
Insurance execs used to be some of the richest people in the country (probably still are). I’ve heard of one too many dirty, rotten insurance story for my taste. They’ll collect premiums for years from people and never pay a claim, but God forbid the few poor souls that have a claim.
We had a situation a few years back and the claims adjustor was the nastiest, rudest man I’ve ever met. I finally got so angry that I would only talk with the regional claims manager since I refused to deal with him. We switched insurance. Meanwhile, the same company treated my friend like royalty after her daughter lit about 100 candles and practically burned the house down. Go figure!!!
Now, as for the fools who keep building on the flooding rivers and in the paths of hurricanes, well, they should get a clue.
I thought that private companies had to give me what I want for a price I want.
It's right there in section..... uhhh. Article.... uh..
Oh, never mind.
Maybe if you punish companies for doing business there, they won't do business there.
I guess they’re not nationwide any longer huh...
Florida didn’t punish companies for doing business. The companies took the incentives offered by the legislature to save money through re-insurance, and ran with it...they ran so fast, that they ran out of state.
State Farm used the extra savings to enrich their own coffers by using the funds to buy reinsurance from their parent company...none of the savings were passed on to policy holders, instead they (State Farm) dropped folks.
We’ve had State Farm for 20 years, never filed a claim, are in a no evac zone, haven’t had a hurricane pass through here in years, yet our rates went up 75 percent this year...on top of a huge hurricane deductible added to the policy.
My question, if there were no hurricane claims last year, and no claims this year...will State Farm lower their rates...bet not!
“Ms Weiler should send a letter to her legislator thanking him for fixing her insurance problem.”
BING BING BING We have a winner.
Florida (particularly the coast) is risky. But the regulations don’t let the insurance companies charge more for the risk.
Insurance companies are businesses. They need to make their shareholder’s profits. Otherwise, the money goes elsewhere.
You are being “punished” because the people who live in the riskiest areas cannot be charged a fair fee and/or MUST be insured.
Re-insurance has nothing to do with the regulation.
Re-insurance is when insurance companies bundle polices and sell a % of the risk to other carrier or re-insurance companies, like Lloyds. It’s a method of spreading risk.
Re-insurance companies won’t pay for Florida risks, because the risk is to high for the reward allowed under regulation.
Its nuts what is happening with homeowners insurance in FL and elsewhere
The way to fix this is to pass laws preventing anyone to force you to buy insurance. Allow people to insure themselves. If they have a loss, and cant recoup...oh well...thats business
We need to get away from the Business Socialist model that forces people to have to buy insurance. That includes doing away with all insurance requirements....auto, home, etc. Keep insurance as an option for people to buy
Rates will drop big time, and, companies will be forced to find customers
The Church, they’re in the charity business. Insurance companies? Not so much.
I don’t know what the ‘proper’ profit is but obviously the insurance companies have decided that Florida doesn’t offer it.
I just got my new bill. I thank God that for this little cheap house worth barely 150K I’m only paying 3K in insurance. I DONT live near water, I live in a no evac zone above sea level, live in an area hurricanes don’t hit often, and unbelievably if a hurricane hit I’d have a deductible over 3K.
For that, I’d have to have the wind totally whip the roof off my house to make it worthwhile claiming. After all, if I flood, they won’t pay me anything anyway, will they?
Its a racket.
But wait; Nationwide is on your side.
LOL
Totally agree, many of our friends are dropping their wind insurance (hurricane insurance)...we are considering it (of course, you can’t do that until your mortgage is paid off.)
But the way we figure, our wind insurance costs around 3500 per year, our wind (hurricane) deductible is around 5000, so we might have to come out of pocket if our roof blows off, but after a couple years of savings, we’d be better off being self-insured. We’d keep liability of course. Truth is, the odds of the roof blowing off is very low.
I’ve tried to call around for other quotes (other than State Farm) but the only company that will write us a policy is Citizens. This is a house that is solid block, built in the 40’s, updated to Miami Dade Code in 2001, survived many a hurricane, and never (according to the previous owner, and now according to us for the last 20 years) has had any damage or filed a claim.
There are natural disasters all over the country...floods this past year in the northeast, and midwest, but Florida seems to be the favorite target of insurance companies even when we go years without hurricanes of significant damage. Insurance companies are cherry picking in Florida, charge high rates for houses that are in no danger, cancel you if you make a claim, take money from the State but don’t use it as intended. Crist says he’d investigate the way State Farm recently manipulated the state offer...but I haven’t heard anymore about it.
Perhaps we Americans should take a look at how Amish folks handle these problems. Someone’s house or barn blows down, the Amish get together as soon as they can and rebuild free of charge. I don’t believe the Amish folks carry any insurance.
I’m not sure we can get Amish to move to South Florida...
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