Getting advice on reducing homeowners insurance premiums via The Villages Insurance.
 

As with most of us, my premiums went up on my homeowners policy, mine is through Progressive via The Villages Insurance. I called The Villages Insurance this morning. After being on hold for nearly 10 minutes a young lady answered and I asked to talk to someone who could advise what I might do as far as changes in my policy to reduce my premiums. I was put on hold, and when she came back I was told the next available agent would be able to talk to me next Tuesday that's five days from now, they don't need my business and they will no longer have my business. I am looking for a new agency, any referrals would be appreciated

The only other agents listed for Progressive in this area are All-in-One Insurance in Lady Lake and Wheeler Insurance in Belleview. I don't know either one.

But, I would also try State Farm and Allstate. Both of those are good companies with local agents.

I have no loyalty to progressive. There are plenty of others I would consider out there, but not through the villages insurance agency.

I do Progressive via online.

Villages Insurance never added any value in my case back when I used them.

I left TV insurance for State Farm. Much better pricing. But who knows next year.

Also check Heritage online

I like Villages Insurance. It is true that I can’t always get through to my agent easily, but she does call back, explains everything in plain words. But what I like most about her is that she gives me many different options and tells me how much my premium would be if I do this or if I do that. She does whatever she can to make me happy.

The other thing that is important to me is; can and will the insurance company be able to pay for a claim and how cumbersome is the process.

Given the sudden rise in insurance rates (post Ian), It's not surprising that agents have been swamped with customer calls...

I'm sure it's frustrating, but I'd give them a little slack right now...

I also have Progressive. Rate went from $1,400 to $2,100. Called State Farm for a quote. Their cost was a couple hundred dollars cheaper but the policy was $200k less on the dwelling coverage. Make sure it's an apples to apples comparison.

I called for possible other sources of home owner's insurance and it also took them several days to arrange a call with an agent. This was fine and we had a good conversation and they got back to me again after they did some research. They are pretty much swamped with calls. Patience grasshopper ...

I would love to get away from The Villages Insurance except when that storm is heading for us and I have my coverage all set up with them there is a sense of relief. You know that even though you may not be first in line that if you do have a claim that it has a high probability of being taken care of.

When we were in the Manufactured Home our homeowners was about $2200 through Foremost. Most of our friends are insured by other companies for about $700 to $800 for the year. I paid the higher price because I had replacement coverage and they didn't.

I really do care about our Villages agent. She offered us a spot to stay in her house during the past two hurricanes. Just an amazing person. I shop each policy every year and can't beat them by a penny. Having all our eggs in one insurance basket just doesn't feel good either. We have Tower Hill on the house now and it does feel better and is less expensive than Foremost.

The Villages has a whole lot of new people working there now because of the volume of business they are doing. Every single newbie has to be brought up to The Villages standards which I imagine takes more than just a few days. Let's see what the future holds for us? I always get a call back by the end of business on the day I call.

I have been with them for six years and I've never been able to talk to an agent the same day that I called unless of course I was going to make a payment then you can get through. I've really had enough of them and will go elsewhere. You can enjoy your relationship with them this grasshopper is out of patience.

I have been with them for 9 years and never had any issues. My recent call with them had no urgency so taking a few days to get back with me was fine. You do realize that you can cancel your policy and get a pro-rated amount back if you decide to go elsewhere? There really is no urgency. By the way, I did speak to some other folks and it took them a couple of days to get back to me with a quote or to arrange an appointment to speak in person.

I. had the same experience with Villages insurance ,the old call back routine when we get time .

Be careful moving to another company, and you may want to check Progressive to see if they themselves are actually insuring you...or are they putting you in the Florida insurance pool. When we shopped around this past January, two companies we quoted with wanted to insure us through them but in the Florida insurance pool. Sure, the premiums were lower...BUT...you don't want to be in that pool unless you have absolutely no other choice. The main reason is that pool can assess you any difference between what the payouts are and the income. For example, if we have a bad hurricane and 20 million in damages are paid out but the pool only has 10 million in reserves, the pool will bill all insurers for the balance due...in addition to your annual premium. The other reason is the amount of homes being covered and paying into the pool is ONLY in Florida, so the risk of being billed the overage amount is high...and the coverage isn't that great either.

Allstate would not even quote for homeowners.

Insurance
 

I too had insurance through The Villages Insurance ever since we purchased in 2017. Trying to find an agent was always an issue. Prices seemed to be ok until this year. We switched all of our insurance to State Farm, Kelly Matz, and have more coverage on our home, much lower deductible on sink hole, same level of auto insurance in 2 vehicles, golf cart insurance on 2 cars and we even added an umbrella policy and we saved money PLUS it was no issue finding someone to talk to at the office about our needs. So glad we made the change

What I would like to know is if you added flooding or any sort of water damage to your policy, which would increase the premium. Since storms seem to be getting worse, we are seriously considering adding this to our policy.

Are you talking about an Exchange? We use The Villages Insurance and have had Tower Hill the past 2 years. We got our renewal and our insurance went from $1400 to $1900 and they are now an "Exchange". From the little I read about exchanges, they make me nervous and I don't want anything to do with them. We are in the process of getting quotes now. FYI, State Farm will not insure your home if it was built before 2004, ours was built in 1999.

Same experience as others. Our rate from Progressive went up from $1100 to $1700. Tried other insurance companies but none were really much cheaper. Some wanted us to bundle with car, but we bundle up North. Others were more expensive. KIN was $6 more for the exact same coverage, so why change? We kept Progressive.

Is that $1700 monthly or annually? I am waiting to retire an move to TV from South Florida where I pay $21k a year for homeowners insurance. Can’t wait to get there!

If you have Progressive I assume your roof is less than 10 years old- the first home we purchased in The Villages had a new roof, we used AAA and had our policy through Progressive- bundled home and auto and they were the most cost effective. Unfortunately in the house we just purchased Progressive would not cover it because the Roof is 12 year old so we bought through Kin Insurance with a prorated claim payment approach- they too doubled from April 2022 $900 to April 2023 $1800+

I had the same thing happen last week. I changed to State Farm Tuesday

Let's hear it for Progressive...they just put a new roof on my nine year old house and chalked it up to a small hail storm we had a few months back!

We've added flood insurance

Tim Bascom Allstate (352) 753-1177
I refer all my customers to get a quote from him. He has Allstate but also brokers other insurance carriers. Good Luck!

Flood can be bought through any agency, but it is through FEMA and it is separate. Make sure if you want it for this season you buy a month in advance. It takes 30 days to to effect

After that exact same experience we changed all our business to State Farm on Warm Springs Rd.

I left them. Homeowners increased by almost 80%. Bought new policy from Kin. Policy increased 90$ for similar coverage.

I use an insurance broker and have Safe Harbor Insurance with Cabrillo Coastal. Designer home has a new roof as of a few years ago. I pay $1300 and a bit a year for $350k with a $1000 deductible, 2% hurricane deductible. I have not seen anyone on these posts have anything much better.

I pay $1300 a year for $350k coverage.

Patience is a virtue.

It appears that The Villages residents are grossly over insured. Old People fears are real and costly.

And not returning calls or following up is not.

Many have experienced poor service from VI long before the current insurance crisis.

Why get flood insurance here in TV. What is going to flood?

I've been with TV insurance since we moved here, I'm with Progressive. Home is around $1700.

I figure with TV being the 800 lb gorilla in this area, I'm better off going with them than trying to go off campus. I did check USAA, and they were more expensive. Even if a couple $100 cheaper, not worth it IMO to switch.

Off topic, but my hope is that insurance reform takes off and sticks. We need to reign in all of the litigation that is helping to drive up costs. No one should get a brand new roof if there is only partial damage, or the roof is reaching the end of its useful life anyway. I for one would be happy to take a higher deductible for roof repair or agree to arbitration vs legal action if it would lower my premiums.

We aren't talking liability here that can run into the millions. It's a roof with a known cost for replacement, that has a finite lifespan.

The amount of increase in homeowners insurance by Progressive is confusing. This owner said their rate went from $1400 to $2100, mine went from $1400 to $4100??? Seems as though it is random.

Recommend Drew Parks at Allstate, 352-561-8472. Local rep in Wildwood. Allstate sells under the name of Castle Keys in Florida, fyi. Allstate was $600/yr less than Villages Insurance quote for our new home.

Good service, friendly, and good rates with KIN.

Vintageogauge, I had Progressive too & my home owners Ins. Went up to $2,084.00 a yr. & my auto Ins. (1 car) for a yr. no claims for 46 yrs. it was $1,105.00 a yr. this amounts to $3,000.00+ yr. My new Ins. both comes to $2,127.00 a yr. a little over $1,000. a yr. savings.

I have Farmers. Much less than the Villages insurance.