No Sinkhole Insurance if Roof is more than 15 years old??
 

We're "northerners" that just purchased a preowned home in the Villages. In pricing home owners insurance, we're finding that they don't want to offer "Sinkhole Insurance" if the roof is more than 15 years old. The home was built in 2004, and has the original architectural shingles that are still in great shape......and they passed the "wind mitigation" test. Is this a common practice? :shocked:

When we purchased our preowned only new homes were allowed sink hole coverage. Last year we were offered on our policy of our 10 yo house. Roof did not come into play

I would try another company. Give The Villages Insurance a chance. Even if you don't use them you will get the real story. 352-751-6622.

We used them for all of our insurance the first year and shop their price and coverage and The Companies they offered for each year since and haven't been able to do better elsewhere. We have a Manufactured Home so our situation is a little different than those with a "regular house".

We are from the Northeast and were shocked at how much importance is put on the age of the roof but I think you'll realize why their concern is so heavy about the age of the roof after the first heavy duty storm. Best of luck and welcome home! :)

The age of the roof should have nothing to do with sinkhole coverage. I would shop around.

However, some insurance companies won't insure houses with old roofs. That is because, an old roof is more likely to be damaged by wind, which results in more damage inside the house that the insurance company needs to pay for.

The company that The Villages Insurance writes with has that 15 year rule with the roof. I went to AAA and had no trouble getting sink hole insurance. I still don't understand what the age of the roof has to do with sinkholes.

The Villages Insurance has many companies. I had been with American Integrity through Villages Insurance since I purchased the home new in 2011. My 2019 bill last spring was $975, it started at $505 n 2011 for a CYV. I looked at the past and it had gone up 5 times in 8 years and yet we had never submitted a claim or anything other than pay the yearly bill.

First I tried AAA since my car is with them, they were only $20 a year cheaper. I called The Villages Insurance and told them I would to shop for something cheaper. They offered ASI for $675 but they didn't include sink hole. I told her to move on, then she offered Coastal Insurance for $560 with sink hole and catastrophic collapse. I said, let me look them up. They had a good rating, so I called back and have been with them almost a year now. The only contact has been they sent out a fellow who took photos of the outside of the home.

When we bought our current house last fall we went through our Allstate agent, as we had used Allstate for our previous house plus auto insurance. The company she wanted to put us with (which offered sinkhole coverage) wouldn't insure us at all with the existing 20 year old roof. Our options were (1) go with a different company and forget about sinkhole coverage; (2) replace the roof and go with the company that offered sinkhole coverage. We opted for #2. We had to agree to replace the roof and provide evidence of such within 30 days or something. I figured 20 years was considered near "end of life" for a Florida roof. I would rather replace it now than cross my fingers and hope I don't have a problem during the next hurricane anyway.

Life in Florida is certainly different than in other parts of the country, isn't it.

kathy

We found out after moving to our manufactured home that Allstate on 441 (near Staples) is licensed to offer insurance on behalf of some other company, for manufactured homes. They don't offer it for Allstate though, just for that other company (I don't remember which one it is).

But if you have Allstate for your motor vehicles, and get homeowner's with them too even if it's just "through" them for a different insurance company, it could qualify you for umbrella discounts.

When this year's insurance is close to expiring we'll be checking with Allstate. We've done business with them for more than the 28 years we've been married; my parents were with Allstate back in the 1970's. So we kinda have a happy history with them and would love to continue it.

Our cars are with Allstate, we transferred the policies when we moved.

I agree village insurance and others couldn't beat AAA in my case.

IMO you should of got quotes from other companies. Allstate IMO one of the highest insurance you can buy. about any insurance company can beat there prices and coverages.

I have yet been is storm down here (including the hurricane two years ago) that compared to even 1 year out of the 20 I was in Oklahoma. What they call tropical storm winds down here little above normal windy day in Oklahoma.

What about flood insurance, should we have it, in Linden village?

I agree. Same for the High Plains, where I grew up.

I just left The Villages Insurance where I was told that they currently have problems writing for a home with a roof of 15+ years. Further, this may apply to renews (don't exactly remember what was said since I have 10 years to go). FWIW

We also have AAA no problem with sinkhole insurance. The age of the roof had nothing to do with it. I agree the age of the roof should not come into the discussion.