Homeowners Insurance

[Finallyfree]

Can anyone tell me who they got homeowners insurance from and why? We close on July 9th and need to find insurance carrier. Is The Villages Insurance the best deal? Thanks

[jimbo2012]

Bill recommended contacting Rita Canty with Brightway Insurance out of Jacksonville - (904)646-1850

I did and they may get sinkhole coverage as well

[asianthree]

The villages insurace just went up $200 plus this year makes me think its time to find someone else

[aaffmom]

Got mine from local Allstate office at Palm Ridge. Security First Ins. Co.

[Barefoot]

Ins Agcy of The Villages Inc
c/o Southern Trace
3513 Wedgewood Lane
The Villages, Florida 32162

352-751-6560

[Roaddog53]

I got mine from the local Allstate. Kevin McDonald. Very nice people and not a bad price. New Designer home for about $750 per year. No sinkhole cvrg though. Allstae also does not carry the policy but uses other companies.
As others will tell you. You now have to order an inspection and pay to see if you qualify. If so it's about an added $120 per year.

[zcaveman]

The villages insurace just went up $200 plus this year makes me think its time to find someone else

Not good to hear!! Mine is coming due soon.

[Ragman]

AAA on 441 near Winn-Dixie. See Bonnie Colangelo.

Package available includes home, auto, and umbrella. Sinkhole available with no inspection for new home but deductible is 10%

[createquilts]

how important is sink hold coverage? Is the problem frequent or occurring with greater frequency.

I guess if only one house is affected and it is covered, it is probably the most important thing for you to buy but does an inspection give signs it could happen to your home? All these considerations are so new to me.

[tucson]

I've had The Villages Ins. (ASI) for 7yrs and am VERY happy w/them. When The Villages got hit in 2007 with that big tornado we (and everyone else that I know of) received our checks within a 2wk time frame. They were terrific!!

[jimbo2012]

how important is sink hold coverage? Is the problem frequent or occurring with greater frequency.

I guess if only one house is affected and it is covered, it is probably the most important thing for you to buy but does an inspection give signs it could happen to your home? All these considerations are so new to me.

What was explained to me was you are covered if the house is declared uninhabitable as catastrophic loss, but not for cracks in slab walls or less than major sinking.

So you can have a lot of damage you may pay out of pocket.

the difference with Brightway Insurance is they rep 40 carriers, not just a few.

[saratogaman]

Sumter-Marion Ins., independent, represent several carriers.
Call Karen Halstead, 751-6560.
Located in Southern Trace Center (on 466), near Publix.
I paid about $60 more for sinkhole protection.

[G&P SSSKI]

just got homeowners closing may 18 . went with AAA best price

[elevatorman]

how important is sink hold coverage? Is the problem frequent or occurring with greater frequency.

I guess if only one house is affected and it is covered, it is probably the most important thing for you to buy but does an inspection give signs it could happen to your home? All these considerations are so new to me.

I dont know, you decide

.https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2717&stc=1&d=1337089364

[784caroline]

Elevatorman

The damage caused from the picture you attached is NOT covered under your policy's Sinkhole Provision...BUT it would be included as part of your policies Catestrophic Ground Cover Collapse.

You need to understand the difference!!

[jimbo2012]

I would think the other way around can you please explain in detail?

[createquilts]

Holy cow! thanks so much Elevator man and Jimbo. Anxious to learn more about this.

[Barefoot]

Ins Agcy of The Villages Inc
c/o Southern Trace
3513 Wedgewood Lane
The Villages, Florida 32162

352-751-6560

I've had The Villages Ins. (ASI) for 7yrs and am VERY happy w/them. When The Villages got hit in 2007 with that big tornado we (and everyone else that I know of) received our checks within a 2wk time frame. They were terrific!!

Sumter-Marion Ins., independent, represent several carriers.
Call Karen Halstead, 751-6560.
Located in Southern Trace Center (on 466), near Publix.
I paid about $60 more for sinkhole protection.

This is the same company.

[royr]

I just learned that Sumter-Marion Insurance = The Villages Insurance.

[elevatorman]

Elevatorman

The damage caused from the picture you attached is NOT covered under your policy's Sinkhole Provision...BUT it would be included as part of your policies Catestrophic Ground Cover Collapse.

You need to understand the difference!!

This page explaines it. Sinkholes and Catastrophic Ground Collapse (http://www.myfloridacfo.com/consumers/guides/property/sinkholes.htm) The key word is "ALL", 4 things must happen. All 4 things do not need to happen for Sinkhole coverage to cover it.

[784caroline]

I agree..and the home in question regarding the picture you posted, from all I read, meets all 4 for Catastrophic Ground Cover Collapse...which is covered by all home owner insurance policy in the State of florida. The hardest criteria to meet is your home as to be declared uninhabitable, condemdened and vacated.

[ljarnold]

We also got our Ins. from AAA. Golf cart insurance too.

[Wing-nut2]

We got ours from the Villages. Ours was one of the houses that got hit by a tornado a few years ago. The insurance company was great!! I can't say enough good things.

Our contractor did a great job and got the house back to us very fast. There was never any problems about money from the insurance co. They just paid the bills.

Insurance companies only write so many policies. Call around. You may find it's hard to someone to even cover you. That's my 2 cents.

[aaffmom]

My agent advised me that above was cat ground collapse. She also explained that condemned means not liveable until repaired and pass county inspection.

[2 Oldcrabs]

This page explaines it. Sinkholes and Catastrophic Ground Collapse (http://www.myfloridacfo.com/consumers/guides/property/sinkholes.htm) The key word is "ALL", 4 things must happen. All 4 things do not need to happen for Sinkhole coverage to cover it.

We have our HO insurance with St Johns Ins. thru Allstate Ins. I was getting golf cart insurance yesterday and asked about the future of "sinkhole" coverage. My house is new (Jan 2012). The insurance agent informed me that I will need an inspection for renewal of sinkhole coverage at a cost of $140 to me. If I lived in Marion county don't waste the money they will not write sinkhole coverage. If I live within 1 mile of the "Cane Garden" sinkhole they won"t write coverage. The above "link" indicates all insurance co must provide "catastrophic" as part of the policy and provide "sinkhole" for an added cost. This no coverage for "sinkhole" is something new that will come about when people renew their policy. Anybody else hear of this? Can they deny
sinkhole coverage?:mad:

[Barefoot]

Insurance companies only write so many policies. Call around. You may find it's hard to someone to even cover you.

I was fussing about our rate increase (attributable to an increase in the sink hole premium cost). Until I was told that some people can't even get coverage! We've been with our Insurance Company for five years, and I hope we're "grandfathered" for sink hole insurance. In the future, I will cheerfully pay any rate increases.

[784caroline]

"If" you can get sinkhole coverage at an affordable cost, deductibles will be going up (probably next renewal cycle) to 10% of home value, the same way alot of Hurricane wind damage deductibles were raised to 2% of value. So on a $300,000, you will be paying the first $30,000 before insurance starts to kick in....that will make you think about filing a claim!!

[rubicon]

Increases in insurance premiums often becomes an emotional issue for some folks, Before you act you may want to do some comparison. You may also want to decide how much you are willing to absorb should you have a claim. I am with a major carrier and carrying all my personal insurance with them. They are not the cheapest but they continue to provide excellent coverage and have an excellent reputation for handling claims fairly and quickly.

Central Florida is situated over Florida's water acquifer and given the recent drought and the projected costs to repair sink holes and home damage resulting from can run into substantial costs.

I don't like it anymore than most but it is what it is. You can thank Governor Scott because he gave the insurance industry his blessing

[aaffmom]

No, you can blame Charlie Crist. Governor Scott is doing his best to keep the property companies that are still doing business in Florida to continue to offer insurance in Florida.

[twotogo]

My wife and I have made two lifestyle visits to the Villages. We have looked at other 55+ communities and nothing compares to it. We have put our home up for sale getting rid of all furniture and buying new. However, we noticed a lot of talk about sinkholes and sinkhole insurance. We read up on all the Florida news about sinkhole insurance and read the info the Villages has been posting on this forum. It appears that if you build you can get sinkhole insurance ( both kinds). If you buy a preowned house you may not be able to get the insurance. The premiums are really going to increase over time. The deductible will increase over time. The S.H. insurance does not cover the patio, the driveway, sidewalk or yard. That eventually the insurance company will deny you sinkhole insurance. The state of Florida has some kind of sinkhole insurance. I am not sure what it covers. My issue is that I carry insurance on everything. I could not afford to take a major loss on the house we would be buying. We like the "Lilly". We read posts suggesting that the Villages HOA take over the sinkhole insurance. 50,000 homes @ $300.00 each equals $15,000,000. That should be more than enough for coverage. I read someone proposed something like this awhile back. Anyhow it was something along those lines.

I also read that there are problems in every state, tornados, earthquakes etc.
One should not worry. But I would worry.
My wife and I then talked about buying in a different state, but we want the Villages. Any ideas out there? Advice?

Thanks

[jimbo2012]

You can have the ground tested for only $3,000 to $15,000
more.. (http://www.sink-hole.com/deniedsinkholeclaim/sinkholetesting/)

or

Avoid sinkhole tests, experts say (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-sinkhole011205,0,7919020.story)

[jojo]

Nearly 30 years ago a 26 foot sinkhole developed in downtown Columbus Ohio on Broad Street. Unfortunately it swallowed a brand new Mercedes . I am not aware of any further sinkhole problems in central Ohio - at least if there were they weren't newsworthy. Does anyone have data on the volume of sinkhole problems? What has brought this about? If the problem continues at the same rate, why should insurance rates rise? Are these naive questions?

[784caroline]

What you just described would be called in Insurance terms..." AS A CATESTROPHIC GROUND COLLAPSE" and Not a sinkhole...regardless of how the newspaper describes it!!

[784caroline]

JoJo

Its not the volume of Sinkholes but the volume of Insurance Fraud that is or has taken place with sinkhole claims. People were filing a claim for sinkhole damage, the insurance comapny would then require the homeowner at their expense to prove the damage was realted to sinkhole activity. This would cost the homeowner hundreds if not thousands of dollars after filing the claim. Once Sinkhole activity was determined, the insurance comapny would pay the claim off...and in many cases that would be the entire amount of insured coverage. So if a house was valued at $300K, the insurance comapny pays of $250K (no land) and then teh property owner would sell their home to the sinkhole inspector (drilling company) for $50K ..enough for the homeowner to come out even. The Sinkhole comapny may or may not fix up the property and then either rent it out or sell it.

If This company bought the property for only $50K and rents it out for $1800-2000/month , it only takes 3-5 years to start making good money...and in most cases they never fix up the property.

[2 Oldcrabs]

The insurance agent told me they will not write sinkhole coverage in any part of Marion county. Too many sinkhole claims. Also they will not write sinkhole coverage within 1 mile of a known sinkhole like the one in Cane Garden. That is a lot of houses in TV. I like TV but I am starting to not like Florida. I am starting to regret leaving the cold up north, and I hate cold weather.:cus:

[KEVIN & JOSIE]

The insurance agent told me they will not write sinkhole coverage in any part of Marion county. Too many sinkhole claims. Also they will not write sinkhole coverage within 1 mile of a known sinkhole like the one in Cane Garden. That is a lot of houses in TV. I like TV but I am starting to not like Florida. I am starting to regret leaving the cold up north, and I hate cold weather.:cus:

It is scary. One sinkhole could destroy your life equity, without adequate insurance. Sinkhole damage would be costly. Something to consider.

[jimbo2012]

It is a fact that that there are companies writing this coverage so please don't say there isn't, your getting folks nervous.

[784caroline]

Agree.... the prospect of having sinkhole damage is cause for concern BUT NOT cause for alarm. Damage related to sinkhole activity is very very isolated and Sinkhole damage will not cause your home to be condemed or require you to vacate it. Everyone with homeowner insurance is covered for catestrophioc Ground Cover Collapse.

[KEVIN & JOSIE]

Agree.... the prospect of having sinkhole damage is cause for concern BUT NOT cause for alarm. Damage related to sinkhole activity is very very isolated and Sinkhole damage will not cause your home to be condemed or require you to vacate it. Everyone with homeowner insurance is covered for catestrophioc Ground Cover Collapse.

The only concern would be if you do not have sinkhole protection, and have sinkhole damage. You could not sell your home, and the repair costs would be hugh.

[2 Oldcrabs]

It is a fact that that there are companies writing this coverage so please don't say there isn't, your getting folks nervous.

What companies are writing new policies in Marion Cty and within in 1 mile of an existing sinkhole claim? The "rumor" has it that the "Cane Garden" sinkhole cost in excess of $100k. I hope insurance covered it!:cus:

[jimbo2012]

see my post above #2

[janmcn]

What companies are writing new policies in Marion Cty and within in 1 mile of an existing sinkhole claim? The "rumor" has it that the "Cane Garden" sinkhole cost in excess of $100k. I hope insurance covered it!:cus:

Shouldn't this apply to homes within a one mile radius of the Buttonwood Run catastrophic ground collapse as well?

[rustyemerson]

If your auto insurance carrier offers homeowner’s, buying it from them might be a good solution. I know that AARP online home and car insurance makes for a sweet deal on both. Other than that, I haven’t had any experience, good or bad with the Villages Insurance.

[tommy steam]

Bill recommended contacting Rita Canty with Brightway Insurance out of Jacksonville - (904)646-1850

I did and they may get sinkhole coverage as well

good info

[Roaddog53]

I had a chat with my insurance agent. She told me that sinkhole coverage will ONLY cover cracks and structural issues with a house caused by a sinkhole. Homeowners insurance covers catastrophic issues if a sinkhole renders the house uninhabitable. Such as the front sidewalk to the door collapsed. However, IF a sinkhole does NOT touch your house and it located in perhaps your backyard somewhere, sinkhole coverage does NOT apply. The costs is than incurred by the owner which can get very expensive. A contractor would fill the hole with a special mortar material after much engineering to determine the extent of the sinkhole. Depending on the size of the hole, THAT can get awfully expensive in hundreds of yards of this special material to fill the hole and the engineering studies! That is the $1000s that may be mentioned sometime.

[madrose]

I received my renewal notice for my home which we bought in June 2011 and it had a 20% increase in premium (from $633. to $760.) and the sinkhole deductible went to 10% of the price of our home. Last year it had a $500. deductible. I was pretty annoyed that they went up in price, yet now give us less coverage, so I called The Village Insurance (which is my provider) and they told me that I could shop around for a cheaper policy.... but to get a new company to insure for sink hole would require a new inspection at my cost from $140 to $200 and if the new company found any cracks in the concrete they would NOT write sink hole coverage. She also said that sinhole repair was expensive with some claims in the $80,000 to $100,000 range.
I called the insurance company directly and they said that Florida now required them to have a larger reserve to pay off claims. Additionally the costs of claims had required them to increase their premium. The 10% deductible sinkhole coverage was to mitigate their costs and help them keep prices down. They said that they would write a policy that included sink hole coverage on a home that passed an inspection (NO CRACKS).

I called the state agency and they told me that it was true that they had received numerous calls from people who had been denied sink hole because of a crack. (my new home had tiny cracks in the garage and lanai after the build) She also said that costs had been increasing because there had been numerous sinkhole fraud cases, which cost them a lot of money. In addition the state had passed a law requiring higher reserves to be maintained by the insurance companies. Pretty upsetting to pay more and yet get less coverage!

[thistrucksforyou]

Can anyone tell me who they got homeowners insurance from and why? We close on July 9th and need to find insurance carrier. Is The Villages Insurance the best deal? Thanks

I bought thru the villages, price is about the same as everyone else with the same coverage but as a new home owner no one told me that the villages insurance will not cover your home if you are a part timer unless you hire and have in place a liceansed and bonded home watch service which they will give you a list...additional 40 bucks a month...JUST SAYIN

[jgbama]

Can anyone tell me who they got homeowners insurance from and why? We close on July 9th and need to find insurance carrier. Is The Villages Insurance the best deal? Thanks

Who did you end up going with? We close on July 16th and I'm waiting on one more quote, from the company in Jacksonville Bill recommended. I have talked with AAA and The Villages.

Because we are buying a pre-owned, built in 94 and has original roof, we have found that has created a problem as they just changed coverage on original roofs from 20 years to 15 years. :sad:

But, The Villages provided a far lower quote as of now. Once we get the roof replaced (sooner than I was planning), we will go through the process again (which is a real pain for the homeowner and I suspect a pain as well for the agencies).

Can't imagine what wealthy people who are buying a waterfront place in Miami must go through! :ohdear:

Will share where we end up on this venture. I will say for those looking at pre-owned to keep in mind the roof issue we learned about. If it is was built in 1997 or earlier and has the original roof, you might could use that in your negotiations. :boxing2:

[Down Sized]

Villages in Sumter satisfied me. Even my car insurance was less. The key is don't buy down further south where most of the sink holes are. As the water table goes down there will be more sink holes. Bottom line is if you want to be in Paradise, there will be a risk.

[Yankee Quilter]

Villages in Sumter satisfied me. Even my car insurance was less. The key is don't buy down further south where most of the sink holes are. As the water table goes down there will be more sink holes. Bottom line is if you want to be in Paradise, there will be a risk.

Where is this sink hole line problem?
Thanks

[dee1940]

the village insurance is definitely higher. i called safeguard casualty and was 300.00 cheaper for the same coverage!!!!

[terrieb]

We are making our 7th visit to the Villages in a few months. We are retired and all we need to do to make it happen is sell our condo to have money to buy in the Villages. What concerns me is the cost of homeowners insurance. In reading the posts, I am concerned about the sink hole coverage and the huge % for deductible. We have friends who live in the Panhandle of Florida and friends of theirs in Florida's insurance quadrupled to $7,500 for home owners insurance. That is a big OUCH! Do most of you find your insurance premiums increase every year? Do most insurances have a flat rate deductible or % deductible. I spoke with a representative today at AARP Hartford and they no longer provide coverage to Florida except to those still grandfathered in. They will not take new policies for anyone moving to Florida. We currently live in a condo (2600 sq. ft) in Ohio and our yearly premium is $540.00 a year. I do not want my pension and SS to go entirely to homeowners insurance. I would appreciate any feedback regarding homeowners insurance in the Villages.

[bandsdavis]

We are moving to the Village of St. Charles next week, and got our homeowners from The Villages Insurance. Our cost is $650 per year. We do not have the added sinkhole coverage, but all properties in FL must have Catastrophic Ground Collapse coverage as part of homeowners. You should be sure to understand the difference. We got 3 separate quotes and they were all in the same ball park.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

.......We have friends who live in the Panhandle of Florida and friends of theirs in Florida's insurance quadrupled to $7,500 for home owners insurance. .......

Have your friends check on where their friends live - it's likely very close to the Gulf and/or they have a pretty expensive home.

Is H.O. insurance more expensive in FL versus OH? Yep. But I don't think you'll be paying anywhere even remotely close to $7,500 a year for it on a typical home in TV. We paid $584 this year for our annual H.O. policy with sinkhole coverage on a patio villa built in '07.

Bill :)

[GatorFan]

My friend bought a home in Spruce Creek South. Bought her home policy from Kevin McDonald's Allstate office. Company was Security First. Paid for inspection and was given sinkhole coverage.

[CarGuys]

My friend bought a home in Spruce Creek South. Bought her home policy from Kevin McDonald's Allstate office. Company was Security First. Paid for inspection and was given sinkhole coverage.

The Villages Insurance beat our other quotes and we got Flood Homeowners and total Sinkhole coverage just before our January closing.

With the closing coming on quick and the Citizens bank running the closing timeline we just got it done. Being out of State did not help. We will shop around once full time this July.

NO! ONE would write us for sinkhole coverage at the time we needed. After the Ashland pics I feel pretty glad we got it.

H

[2 Oldcrabs]

We have a new 2030 sq ft home. We have the most coverage we can get thru St Johns Ins. based in Orlando. We got it thru the Allstate agency on CR 101. We have sink hole coverage now but will need to have an inspection at a cost of about $150 before they will renew sink hole. Agent said, even if it passes they probably will not renew because of the # of sink holes in the area. I will still have "catastrophic ground collapse". (all Fl policies must offer) Premium is $829/yr. The agent said it would be about 50% more if the house was not built to the newest "wind standard". Insurance companies do not like the "risk" in Fl.:22yikes:

[jimbo2012]

Premium is $829/yr. The agent said it would be about 50% more if the house was not built to the newest "wind standard". Insurance companies do not like the "risk" in Fl.:22yikes:

That is a major factor in making a choice in buying a resale, find the year it was built.

[SukiChu]

I spoke with our State Farm agent (Illinois) this morning. We have been with them for 38 years. They are no longer writing any policies in Florida. We will have to find another insurance company before closing. It does sound as though our insurance will be less costly - that is a positive!

[Cedwards38]

I'm with The Villages Ins. also. Great service from my agent and the cost is good too.

[Cedwards38]

I really enjoy reading TOTV, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to do anything except a quick reply. Oh well. Here's to that.

[buckscounty]

AAA, and we have sinkhole with the ins.

[Newbeginnings]

I had 2 quotes, went with The Villages Ins. Quotes came in within a $100.00 variance. I am paying $1050 a year with sinkhole coverage, they told me factors considered are; square footage of the house, structure material (vinyls vs stucco), roof structure, birdcage, and I am on a villa wall, previous claims (which I had none) , pets, a whole list of things. I had all the structure needs met, stucco, hip roof to get the lower rate They told me if something happens to the villa wall I am 50% responsible for the repair. Insurance is about the same as what I paid, maybe even a little cheaper than Alaska as I had earthquake ins added to my policy up there. I may still shop around later, but needed to get the house covered as I close soon on the new build.

[jimbo2012]

They told me cable roof is more $$ than hip due to wind damage more likely on those.

[Newbeginnings]

Your right, I have a hip roof, not gable. Hip is better for wind.

[rdhdleo]

After 30+ years with State Farm we switched to AAA on 441 got a terrific bundled rate for home, cars and golf cart. Same coverage as State Farm and half the price Great people to work with!

[janmcn]

After 30+ years with State Farm we switched to AAA on 441 got a terrific bundled rate for home, cars and golf cart. Same coverage as State Farm and half the price Great people to work with!

Did this great rate include sinkhole insurance?