home ins when there's a hurricane........scam in FL

[bobbieinok]

This is the last part of a post from DUer whistle that I think needs wider attention.....

Meanwhile, people with damaged and destroyed homes are getting the shock of their lives reading the fine print that anywhere from 2% to 7% of the insured value of their homes represent the out-of-pocket special hurricane deductible. So, if you live in a home that is insured for $200,000 to the structure and your deductible is 2%, your out-of-pocket will be $4,000.00 while the contents if insured for $75,000 will have a $1,500.00 deductible. Total out-of-pocket deductible for any amount of damage starts with $5,500.00 before the insurance company even bothers to come out.

That one came in under Jeb Bush, two years ago even while premiums rose 30% to 50% for most home owners. Also, before Bonnie or Charley even made land-fall on Thursday in Florida, Governor Bush declared the entire state of Florida as being in a state of emergency and hurricane threat. This was to initiate evacuation procedures and give the police, fire departments and other local safety people the authority to take maesures to protect people and property. This also made all property in the paths of the two storms that would potentially have damage claims to automatically come under the special conditions of the hurricane deductibles as most policies contain normal deductibles of $500 or less for tornado damage and the like. The eye of Hurricane Charley had already left my area at 8:30PM on Friday when our community was hit by a twister some time around 11:00PM. That was when the damages occurred in my neighborhood, but the governor's premature natural disaster covers the insurance companies. The CEO's from the insurance companies are throwing a big party for the governor in Tallahassee FL right now.

[ewagner]

1. Okay...now I understand

My son's future Mother-in-law suffered roof, window and tree damage at her house and said that she has a $5,500 deductible. I couldn't believe it but now I understand why.....I also understand that JEB'S STATE OF EMERGENCY Declaration had little, if anything, to do with protecting lives and property (otherwise relief supplies like water, food and water purification units) would have been staged in advance and brought in immediately. The declaration was for the insurance companies............ what a bunch of a**holes!

[TheRovingGourmet]

2. This is normal, from my experience. You should be able

to get a lower deductable if you want, just be prepared to pay for it.

[Junkdrawer]

3. So this is a recent law? - And Jeb supported it?

Betcha lots of home owners in Florida will be "pleasantly" surprised!

[Jacobin]

4. That's not what pisses me off

What pisses me off is people who want to live in the path of hurricanes suffering damage, getting the insurance to pay for it and having the rest of the fucking country subsidizing their rates. It happened after Andrew, the rest of the country paying for people who want to live in the Sunshine state. Everyone's rates went up to pay for their damage.

If they want to live there, let them pay their own damned inflated premiums, don't ask me to chip in.

Sorry for the rant.

[shanti]

5. you don't have catastrophic events

where you live?

[TheRovingGourmet]

8. We had one here in Texas but he left for Washington, DC.

[uncle ray]

9. you build to accomodate them

like in earthquake prone areas you can't throw up just any building. i've live in tornado country, and the poorest of the people also seem to be the smartest, building pole buildings over their trailer houses to hold them down. now i live near the mountains, where fire is a risk, and a recent problem, and smart people build fire breaks around their homes, and are careful with what they build with. shouldn't be any different in sunny florida.

bottom line is read the policy!

[Jacobin]

12. There's a difference

When twenty zillion people all move within a few miles of a peninsula sticking out in hurricane alley, and then put up aluminum boxes to live in, 2 feet above sea leavel, there is a certainty that tens of billions in losses will occur on a regular basis.

If someone wants to live 2 feet above sea level in an aluminum box to be in a sunny spot with a beach, their insurance premiums should reflect that risk, that they chose, NOT MINE.

Of course there are catastrophic events in almost every state. But almost all are fewer and farther between, people aren't inviting disaster by their choices and their levels of losses are way way lower than those of Florida.

So, hearing people in florida complain about insurance coverage is not something I lose sleep over.

[karlrschneider]

6. Um, you're in Louisiana? That's even more hurricane territory than

Florida's west coast...

[Jacobin]

14. Actually, you are wrong

Florida receives far more hurricane hits than Louisiana. Building ten feet from the beach is not common in Louisiana, very common in Florida.

Most parts of Florida are less than 30 miles from a beach (storm surge). Hardly any other populated areas of other coastal states are that built up.

Care to compare damage losses from hurricanes in other states?

My point is, if you live in a place that has higher rates of loss, because you choose to, then you should pay the higher premium.

[kayell]

7. You don't have hurricanes, tornados, fires or floods in Louisiana???

[Misunderestimator]

10. "Live in the path of hurricanes"... give me a break!

NYC has seen more hurricanes in the past 75 years than Ft. Myers. I suppose since you live in Louisiana, you shouldn't get any flood insurance either. I suppose everyone on both coasts should just move inland to save you some money. But not too far, cause we wouldn't want to subsidize insurance for tornado-valley residents either... or emergency care for people who slip and slide and crash on icy roads in the north and midwest. Hmm... where should we all live, New Mexico? Nope, Los Alamos is there and we'd have to subsidize all those people getting toxified by nuclear stuff... Hmm...

:eyes:

[DURHAM D]

11. Thanks for the obvious truth -

The last big hurricane through Florida could have put the big three (State Farm, Allstate and Farm Bureau) out of business - wouldn't that have been awful for the rest of the country. Owning housing in Florida is not a rational decision - why should I help support that.

[kayell]

13. Why should I support any one else?

I gather you live in one of the totally risk free parts of the US so I won't be expected to help pay for your house being destroyed by storms, floods, etc. But I also want to make sure that I'm not responsible for any of your other faults like being a smoker, or overeating, or clogging your arteries by being a meateater, of needing insurance provided hearing aids when you lose hearing from toby keith concerts, or any of that stuff. And I especially don't want to hear of any of my insurance dollars being spent to repair fools who get damaged after they deliberately annoy the hell out of other people. Or my tax dollars spent to investigate either.

/freeper mode

[Jacobin]

15. Fine. Build a house on the beach where flood planners

will tell you with certainty that over the life of the home it WILL be wiped out in a storm surge.

Apart from the obvious horrific problems caused to the environment from screwing up natural beach erosion protection, we are raiding the treasury to benefit million dollar condo owners, by subsidizing their flood insurance.

Does not compute with me.

[kayell]

16. I love these threads. They let me know who never to bother talking to

around here.