Homeowner’s Insurance in TV
 

Happy New Year!!

My wife and I currently live in Louisiana and we hope to move to TV this year.

Last year we paid $5600.00 for Homeowner’s insurance on our 2800 sf home with USAA. This is in addition to the nearly $1000.00 we paid for Flood Insurance.

Is this comparable to what people are paying in TV today?

I’ve seen a few discussions regarding insurance and finding a broker. Any suggestions for a good broker in the area?

Thank you so much.
Kirk

People do not seem to understand what insurance is. You pay a company to accept all or part of YOUR RISK for a loss. It is a numbers game. Different companies may consider the risk higher or lower than others. You can choose to self insure-not buy insurance. Probably not an option if you have a mortgage on your home. You can choose a high deductible. You are self insuring the first-whatever the deductible is.

ALL are great at taking your payments. Paying on claims is a different story. You mention USAA. I believe you buy that from the company direct-not through a broker. We use Villages Insurance-been happy-MOSTLY. We've been in the Villages for like 11 years and had Progressive insurance. Progressive decided they had too much risk in Florida and pulled out-refused to renew a percentage of policies. We lost the lottery and had to find another company.
Seems Desantis has forced them to???? We never had a claim. Recent hurricane. New company inspected our roof and it past. We lost roughly 100 pounds of roofing shingles. I picked them up and put them in a box. Did not weigh the box but at least 100 pounds.

The adventure.Called the broker got recording-closed due to hurricane call insurance company direct. A pleasant surprise. The insurance company sent an adjuster in a day or two. Behind the adjuster there was a crew covering the roof with tarps. We just had a new roof installed. Cost us our contracted deductible roughly 7500. There is a higher deductible for hurricane damage. WE WON. Companies and numbers game. Floods are not likely in THE VILLAGES. We do not have flood insurance. .Neighbor. Same storm, same insurance company. Water came into their home.
That is flood damage and you do not have flood insurance-NOT COVERED. What can I say but HUH.

I have USAA. I know the insurance rates are higher than others. I have home, life and auto with USAA for 32 years, after trouble with State Farm. Family of 6 with 8 vehicles. Very expensive. But I knew USAA would be there to back me no matter what. When my kids moved out, I told them to compare and make their own decisions, because yes, you can get cheap insurance, but you get what you pay for.

I've never made a homeowner claim and I was sitting like you were asking myself how can I reduce my costs after the move. But when it happens and it will, just like a horrible car wreck, will the insurance company fight with me or try and kick me while I'm already down or will they say we are with you.

No I don't work for them and I don't know anybody that does. Over the years teen kids learning to drive in major city traffic.....tickets, wrecks, BS law suits from a bumper tap and all the passengers in the other car start throwing there heads around, screaming that they are gonna sue for neck injuries. USAA was there and never said we are gonna cancel you or we are not paying. They fought some, they paid some over the years, but never fought with me. Rates went up a little, then slowly down, as expected.

I guess it's like my life insurance policy. I could get a cheaper rate from another life insurance company. I hope it never happens, but if it does, I know USAA will pay out. After all, you want to pick a company capable of paying out if the big one hits. I think, based on their rating, that if a CAT5 actually hit the village and did devastation, USAA would be one of the two or three still solid and the only one not fighting against the homeowner, but with the homeowner. IMHO.

To answer your question, less than your Louisiana situation, generically speaking.

Homeowners will be significantly less than that here.

$1400 - 1600 sq ft - Progressive
I had insurance up north for 30 years and never filed a claim although I could have, it is just super disaster insurance to me, otherwise I will not use it, they dig that I think.

Not too many lots here require flood insurance, which I did have up north, but do not have or need here.

If your in a FEMA flood zone (you can look up on their website) you have no choice if you carry a loan you will have to carry flood insurance in addition to the standard home and optional sink hole (the latter which has been discussed on here many times).

My designer home premium is about 1/3 of your premium, insured with USAA.

2 yo house 2/14 Home 2900sf, garage 780sf, lanai 480sf, plus pool and cage. All exterior and interior walls are 10’ with 8’ doors

Premium $1075 with $1000. Deductible, renewing 2/14.

It all depends on the paper.

Unless you compare apples to apples, posting "what I pay" is worthless.

Need to get quotes based on your coverage expectations.

Average cost from USAA website for Florida:
Average home insurance prices by coverage amount
Dwelling coverage Annual rate
$200,000 $1,450
$350,000 $2,151
$500,000 $2,891
$1 million $5,287
Dec 27, 2024

Average..............some higher, some lower, based on coverage.

People can feel good about obtaining cheap insurance, but there is a coverage/risk reason for it..............not because the owner was a great negotiator.

I paid about $2200 for the year with Edison. They wanted another $1000 for flood insurance, but my house is elevated, and the surrounding area would be flooded before my home would be at risk.

We are insured with USAA and our home is just under 2400 SF. You are paying more than double what we are paying. As for flood insurance the rates are set by the Federal Government base on your flood zone and elevation. If you have a mortgage they will require flood insurance. I have not heard of any homes in the Villages getting flooded. We are close to a pond off of Evans prairie and I doubt Waite would ever get high enough to food us so no flood insurance.

Consider yourself lucky. That was our price 4 years ago and our house is <2K square feet. Now $2400

Based on your post I would say that you are way underinsured! Remember that things like a pool and birdcage are limited to a % of the house policy and so is your contents. I would take a serious look at your policy if I were you.

Just my opinion… 36 year in the insurance claim business!

House is insured for $24,000 more than the build. Some insurance companies give you options on how you insure your pool and birdcage. $40,000 for birdcage is $140 premium.
Then chose pool coverage, then again if it’s a sinkhole problem pool comes under sinkhole HO policy. One side of family brokers insurance

All 3 quotes, from The Villages (they know exactly the build) and 2 other insurance was within $125.00.

It was a welcomed surprise that renewal only went up a few dollars after our Milton claim. Property adjuster went through entire house, attic roof for claim, assessment for renewal was done in person