Majority of the polices in Florida and other states are the same form HO 0003

Bet that 99.9999% of those roof claims, there was not any leakages after the "storm" caused the damages to the roof.

Attorneys in most cases do not get 1/3. Under the old Florida law, if an insurance company denies a claim and if the attorney proves that the insurance company should have paid the claim, attorney gets his legal fees paid, insurance company pays the claim including interest and insurance company pays their own attorney. Lose, lose situation for the insurance company

It's got nothing to do with hurricane risk to The Villages. There is none. How do I know?

I'm from Houston. I went through THREE hurricanes that were level 5 when they hit, in a house (Cypress, TX) that was the same distance from the coast as The Villages. The eye of one of them came directly over my home. The house I lived in was a frame house with brick veneer with no hurricane or windstorm rating whatsoever -- unlike your home here in The Villages, which is rated for 110 mph. You probably even live in a concrete block house that could easily withstand 200 mph.

What was the worst damage I had from 3 level 5 hurricanes, from 80 miles away? One of them blew down about 20 feet of an old privacy fence that needed to be replaced anyway. That's it.

That fact is, by the time even a large hurricane makes it over 80 miles of land, it's barely a "1". If I know these facts, you can be sure that your insurance company does, too. And by the way, how many hurricanes did The Villages experience in that same time period? One little level 2? Give me a break! I had a little tropical storm dump 36 inches of rain on me the year before I moved to Florida! And my insurance was HALF what I pay in The Villages!

We have insane insurance rates and no national options because if you're like me, half the people you know have scammed a roof out of their insurance company. Insurers are forced to write these idiotic "full replacement value" policies. It is literally an invitation to fraud. And we live in a state where people like us who have ZERO hurricane risk are forced to subsidize the vast majority of the population that stupidly lives within 10 miles of the beach.

Nothing will change until:
1. "Full replacement value" is outlawed
2. Prior scammers are forced to pay higher premiums
3. Insurers are forced to charge according to the actual risk and not allowed to use low risk to subsidize high risk.

The insurance market in Florida is one big scam. Nothing will change until that is fixed.

I've searched endlessly online but can't seem to find what is the most relevant data for making informed decisions about purchasing homeowners insurance at the Villages, what deductible to get, etc. And that data would include home insurance claims broken down by Florida county. It's obvious that coastal cities are more vulnerable than inland cities. For example, what is the average number of claims/10,000 houses in Sumter, Lake and Marion Counties vs. some of the coastal counties? And what is the average payout per claim? Of the recent most destructive hurricanes, what is the average claim here at the Villages vs. Florida in general? I'm not sure they want us to know that information because we're likely subsidizing other areas.

They told me they are not taking on new customers in this area.

The Villages is much less than 80 miles from the west coast. If you are so sure that there is 0 risk, why don't you drop your hurricane coverage and save money?

Just for fun I went to that site and they came up with a rate about $200 higher than my recent 7/1 renewal from travelers (in about 10 seconds). Thing is, like many other of these quotes they give you absolutely no idea what coverages you are or are not getting. No way to compare "apples to apples". Of course they want to immediately call you to sell you and I am sure then you will get the exact coverages plus all the options they will provide. Point is, just tossing out what one pays for insurance without what coverages they have and were quoted is totally meaningless. Like saying "I just bought a Chevy for $15,000." Means nothing.

Yearly when I check rates I make sure I get at minimum exactly the same coverage I currently have. Otherwise these tossed out online prices are useless. KIN is another one. They don't tell you their "default" coverage quoted online (at least as of last year) includes a DEPRECIATED VALUE for your existing roof, not full replacement value. A 15yr old roof would probably be depreciated by 80%. I'll bet 90% of those who get a price from KIN or even got coverage from them are not aware of that. It's a low-ball unless of course it is OK with the insurance buyer and they are aware of it. That may have changed recently but when I last looked it hadn't AND they were $100 MORE than my existing FULL coverage..

50 miles as the crow flies to Crystal River. So maybe if you take a direct hit from the eye of the storm that was a level 5 when it hit Crystal River, you'll see level 2 winds (96-110) when it hits your 110mph rated house -- but only if the eyewall hits you. And what are the odds that a 10 mile eye wall actually hits your house? About the same as a tornado hitting a house in Kansas (only with a lot less damage). It could happen. Probably won't.

Drop my insurance? Very tempted. It's something I consider on every insurance hike (100% this year!). I'm far more worried about liability, though, than fires or hurricanes. Know any companies that will sell standalone liability insurance on a house? Me neither.

Hurricanes, even category 1s, spawn tornados far from the center. If one of the tornados hits your house during a hurricane and you don't have hurricane coverage, you are out of luck.

I did go to the HH website and got a quote. You can get a more basic policy for lower premium. I'm wondering how responsive they would be in the event of a problem -- any experience with claims?

IMHO, it is almost always better to deal with an agent rather than get stuck with missing some detail or a wrinkle unique to the market here. Think about liability, lightning damage, not to mention mold due to the failure of your AC while you’re on vacation for two weeks … the list goes on. It is not just a new roof due to wind damage.

No claims. I've also never had a homeowners insurance claim here in Indiana. But every time I've called with a question I've talked to a person or got a return call the same day.

Then why did my insurance co. make me get a new roof if my roof was still functioning perfectly?

True of course. So you're saying that my house in Florida has maybe as much tornado risk as my house in Houston, but probably not near as much as my house in Oklahoma (which actually had the roof removed by a tornado while I owned it).

Now, explain to me why my insurance on my much larger, non-wind-rated homes in Texas and Oklahoma was a fraction of what it is on my current concrete block fortress in Florida.