Homeowners insurance?

[KEVIN & JOSIE]

I'm sure this topic has been beat to death before, but I called to get rough estimates for homeowners insurance on a CYV. I called my current company in PA, Nationwide. I also called State Farm, Farmers, Metlife, Liberty Mutual, and Travelers. NONE would write a policy in Florida. My concern is, can adequate insurance to cover your investment be purchased in Florida? Is Florida living so risky that companies won't cover your property? I would hate to take my life savings to purchase a home and not be able to cover my investment if I had a catastrophic loss. Please help. I'm trying to work a plan and budget. Thanks :)

[buggyone]

When I moved to The Villages from Maryland 2 years ago, I called my insurer in Maryland (GEICO) and they transferred me to their Florida desk. I got a policy from GEICO through Security First. It has good protection including sinkhole protection and hurricane protection. I called around a few months ago when my policy was up for renewal and could not find a better deal.

You definitely need homeowners insurance and be sure both sinkhole and hurricane protection is on it - and not just catatrophic sinkhole damage but all sinkhole damage. You should have no more than $500 deductible for either.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Kevin & Josie, you've encountered the same eye-opener as we did a year ago when we bought a patio villa. In advance of the purchase, I contacted our current State Farm agent here in OH to find out how much H.O. insurance would be. They said they'd look into it and call me back which they did. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN S.F. ISN'T WRITING ANY NEW H.O. POLICIES IN FL??" It was a completely foreign concept to us! Many major carriers are no longer writing H.O. in FL. Who knew?

Here's a recent thread on the topic. Hopefully it will be of some help:

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43106

Bill :)

[GTTPF]

I just got my homeowners, sinkhole and hurricane insurance $500 deductable from AAA ( in the villages)352 753 2500 There are several places. The villages insurance co, and many others. Insurance is not a problem. do a search at the top of the page and you will find out more information on the subject.

[GTTPF]

Bill you type faster that I do LOL

[KEVIN & JOSIE]

Thanks for all the info. This was sure new to me, most of the time insurance companies are glad to take your money.

[buggyone]

At the time I was selling my house in Maryland 2 years ago, I was told by GEICO that after 90 days of being unoccupied, the homeowner insurance would not be valid. I would then have to buy "unoccupied home" insurance which is much higher priced. Luckily, my house sold in 8 days so I did not have to think about that.

My question is to the snowbirds and flakes of the The Villages. When you are gone from your homes both in The Villages as well as your other home, do you take out an "unoccupied home" policy in case your home is vandalized or has something happen to it - or do you just take the chance nothing is going to happen or that the insurance company is not going to figure you were not occupying the property at the time of the damage?

[Bill-n-Brillo]

..... My question is to the snowbirds and flakes of the The Villages. When you are gone from your homes both in The Villages as well as your other home, do you take out an "unoccupied home" policy in case your home is vandalized or has something happen to it - or do you just take the chance nothing is going to happen or that the insurance company is not going to figure you were not occupying the property at the time of the damage?

We ran into the "unoccupied" situation when we were selling our prior home here in OH. We moved to our new home and thus the other place sat empty while on the market. Our insurer, State Farm, was aware of the situation and our agent's office "let sleeping dogs lie" for a number of months until someone from their district office raised the question. So the agent called to let me know the company was going to do the unoccupied things..........it only raised the premium by something like $45 a year, if I remember correctly. House sold shortly after that so it became somewhat a moot issue.

The insurer of our patio villa in TV is aware that we're only down there on occasion (as snowflakes). I told her how often we come to TV and that we have a homewatch person who stops by weekly to check things out. They wanted contact info for the person, probably to have it on record and/or maybe to check out my story (which I doubt they did). That seemed to please them. Whether or not they jacked our H.O. coverage rate up at all is an unknown to me. All I know is their rate compared favorably to other companies we checked with at the time.

Bill :)

[buggyone]

Thanks, I always wondered how that issue was taken care of - not that I will be needing it now or in the future.

[KEVIN & JOSIE]

Do the companies that will insure homes in Florida have the capital to back up their policy coverages? I read that some companies during the catastrophic storms actually defaulted on providing the needed repairs and replacement of damaged homes, and the homeowners were never compensated, and lost their assets.

[Wing-nut2]

One of my houses was hit by a tornado a couple years ago. Yes, in TV. I had, and still have ASI and they were great. No questions, paid for everything the contractor wanted to do, counld not ask for better coverage.

Hope this helps. My .02.

Jim

[BnCinME]

One of my houses was hit by a tornado a couple years ago. Yes, in TV. I had, and still have ASI and they were great. No questions, paid for everything the contractor wanted to do, counld not ask for better coverage.

Hope this helps. My .02.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Can you share some contact information for ASI? We have our quote from the TV insurance company but I'd like to check out more options before we close next month. thanks!

[KEVIN & JOSIE]

Good to hear that they covered your losses. Great to hear it first hand. Thanks