[graciegirl]

Three years ago when we were closing on our first house, one of my favorite people, Village07 directed us toward the home insurance she had chosen. Now a good friend is looking for the same advice. And we hope to be too. Hoping that 07 will tell us again what to choose.

I also would like to hear from people who recently have bought new home insurance policies.

[golfnut]

I recently switched and got the best price at AAA. Ask for Diane D....gn

[Bill-n-Brillo]

gracie - We got our homeowner's policy late last year with Security First Insurance. The agency we got it through is Brightway Insurance out of Jacksonville - owner/agent I dealt with was Rita Canty (904) 646-1850. They represent nearly all the companies that offer h.o. coverage in FL - most of the other agencies I checked with for coverage only represented a few.

We also got hurricane and sinkhole coverage as part of the policy. See this prior thread for some of the info I posted regarding the interesting process of getting sinkhole coverage via this particular company:

Sinkhole Insurance Changes

To me, it was worth it.

Bill

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Three years ago when we were closing on our first house, one of my favorite people, Village07 directed us toward the home insurance she had chosen. Now a good friend is looking for the same advice. And we hope to be too. Hoping that 07 will tell us again what to choose.

I also would like to hear from people who recently have bought new home insurance policies.

Grace,

I was going to email you the email I received from my agent at AAA that has the policy information sheet attached. We pay $700 a year for our Gardenia which of course you've been in! However, I didn't have your email address like I thought. If your interested in it just PM me with your email address and I'll send a copy to you!

Joe

Agent: Great gal to work with!

Bonnie Colangelo
Licensed Insurance Agent
AAA Insurance
955 Bichara Blvd
The Villages, FL 32159
Ph. 352-753-2500 ext. 2264
Fax 877-749-5167

Mon. - Fri. 8:30 - 5:30

[villages07]

Geez, nothing like being called out by Gracie. I originally had Travelers for the first 3 years but when they made sinkhole coverage an add on with a horrendous 10% deductible (e.g. Your house is insured for 250k, you are responsible for the first 25k in repairs)..... I called Villages Insurance and AAA to get some new quotes. Was happy with Villages insuance quote from ASI that had a flat hurricane and sinkhole deductible of either $500 or $1000 at a reasonable premium. Will be interesting to see how much my premium goes up this year.

I'm sure you will get answers all over the map...my main advice is beware of the deductibles and your potential exposure out of pocket.

[Pturner]

Hi GG,
Villages Insurance put us with ASI too. Rates are reasonable but since we haven't had a claim, that's all I know about them.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

I remembered one other thing that came up when we were browsing for homeowner's insurance late last year: It seems some insurance companies apparently limit the number of policies they have in force in a particular area, undoubtedly to limit their exposure in case some disaster takes place. For example, I talked with a local insurance agent regarding getting a policy with ASI as a number of TOTVers had indicated they were happy with the company, the policy they got, and the premium. After checking with ASI, the agent came back and told me that ASI was no longer writing policies in "our area". I didn't ask for any clarification as to what that "area" encompassed. I'm sure we weren't rejected due to incidence of claims on existing insurance (we've never had a claim) or anything like a credit rating issue (as many companies now use your credit rating - like it or not - to evaluate your viability for coverage.....as well as the amount of your premium!)

Again, this occurred about 7-8 months ago. Perhaps things are different now.

Bill

[Carla B]

I called Bill-n-Brillo's agent, Rita, in Jacksonville, who was very nice to talk to. She mentioned that ASI is a good, strong company but very conservative in their underwriting practices. For instance, today they'd only insure our house for $9,000 less than they quoted 3 years ago.

[jojo]

We use the Villages Insurance. They represent several companies. We are with American Integrity Insurance Co. Our home insurance went down nearly $150 this year and we have sinkhole coverage.