Anyone have any thoughts on how the previous hurricane season(s) have affected rate hikes on their different properties?
Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated.
Also…using Florida as an example:
Are inland cities like Ocala not getting hit as hard with rate hikes…as opposed to Daytona Beach which is more in the line of fire.
Or…is the entire state having an across the board rate hike.
In other words…when the insurance companies jack up rates to cover payouts from previous year’s damage…do they more or less confine the rate hikes to the more directly hit coastal area…or do they hit the entire state, (even inland areas), with steep increases.
Also…along these lines…does anyone know of a website that gives approximations on property insurance for different regions of the country…(kind of like a zillow.com for insurance).
Thanks for the consideration.
-Mike
I wasn’t terribly affected by the Gulf coast hurricanes last year up here in NW Louisiana but the rates are sneaking up and the insurance companies are “rattling their sabers” for significant rate hikes…
Keith
Mike I live in SoFl. Insurance is a killer along with taxes. I bought one home in May to rehad. It is in ft lauderdale, east of I95. There is only one insurance company to get insurance from and by law it has to be the highest rate possible. it is Citizens Insurance which is the state backed insurance company. When an insurance company pulls out of the state, like Poe just did which was the 2nd largest insurance many homes in non flood zones like western broward and palm beach, there polices went to Citizens and people are seeing rates jump from about 2500 yr to about 4000 a yr now and more. My policy on the rehab is $18,000 a yr (alot of $$$$ to insurance a home). Many older people who own homes outright have opts not to insurance homes anymore and rather look for high yield investments that are secure and put the insurance proceeds there and let it grow and pray they have enough to cover damages. In Fl our deductibles are equal to 5% of the apprasial value of the home, not land. So if house worth $200K, and land is $100K, your deductible is $10K. So if damage is under 10K, your paying for it all anyway. But in mean time you gave insurance co 4K already for the yr.
Insurance is way out of control. I know realtors are getting involved now as it is runing the market. I know areas not affected by hurricanes often like center of Fl have much better rates. Plus newer homes in these areas are built to new hurricane codes so better rates. My friend just bought new home in Cape Coral and policy was only $1400 a yr…Great price…but next yr will probably double…
andrew
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the feedback.
I had been looking at a coastal area for REI…but have since retracted on that due to this concern.
I appreciate your input.
As much as I love the water…can’t have your cake and eat it too.
It’s a gamble…but it’s a risk I’d rather minimize.
Thanks,
-Mike
Yeah the coastal areas are expensive. Actually the state screwed that all up when they created an insurance company Citizens to insurance the homes there since insurance companies were pulling out. Coast areas were never heavily developed since no one was able to really get ins. The Citizens came along and it gave everyone a chance to get ins with a high cost of course but people were able to afford it still. Then builders came in and developed it all. Thru the 80’s to late 90’s you never saw new condos being built in SoFl b/c of ins issued or developements being built but then it call came up in the boom since Citiznes would insure them. The Citizens realize these high million dollar plus claims. Now I think they are capping them at 1mil for losses even if home is worth 10mil…