[toeser]

Originally Posted by Blueblaze

The solution to the roofing scams would be unbelievably simple to solve -- just treat a roof like the depreciating asset that it is. Why is that so hard to understand? You don't expect State Farm to buy you a set of tires for your Ford every five years; why do you expect them to buy you a roof every ten? Other states don't have a problem with this idiotic issue, just states like Florida that are run by lawyers for their own amusement, full of crooked idiots who think a "free roof" is free.

30 years ago, I had half of my 3-year-old roof blown away by an Oklahoma tornado. Allstate replaced that HALF of my roof. But in Florida, you can get a new roof if some scam roofing company finds a loose shingle, because all of these dumb insurance companies insist on writing these idiotic "full replacement cost" policies, and then paying on a scam rather than fight a crooked lawyer. Want reasonable insurance rates? Quit demanding unreasonable insurance policies and free roofs!

And I will never understand why insurance companies don't group similar risks, instead of making sane people who don't buy houses exposed to 12' storm surges pay for those who do.

The Villages ought to have the lowest insurance rates in the nation. More than half the homes are built out of concrete with steel studs, for crying out loud! ALL of them are built to withstand winds that have never been seen in this part of Florida. They are surrounded by an unbelievably extensive flood control system of ponds and pumps, and every single house is less than 5 minutes from a fire station. The nearest potential storm surge is 60 miles away!

And, yet, my Florida insurance is TWICE what I paid in Texas, from the same damned company, even though that house was exactly the same distance from the Gulf of Mexico, and WASN'T built to any hurricane standard. I went through three level 5 hurricanes and two tropical storms in the house, and the only damage I ever suffered was a blown down privacy fence -- because even those hurricanes were barely level 1 by the time they crossed 60 miles of land. During Harvey, I had 36" of rain in 48 hours, and the flood water was literally lapping the foundation of my house. It was a week before the roads cleared enough to go to the store. And STILL my insurance was HALF what I pay to insure this (much smaller!) Florida fortress, the same 60 miles from the ocean, but surrounded by an extensive flood control system!

I used to believe the old adage "never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity". But the Florida insurance market has me rethinking that one. You don't get to this level of stupidity without an entire state full of stupidly corrupt people, dreaming up new ways to steal from each other!

I have one of those concrete block homes, but a huge oak fell on it during a hurricane. No roof will withstand that.