Florida’s insurance crisis leaves homeowners in jeopardy

Wanted to add - absolute majority of residential areas in Florida do not require flood insurance. My elevation is 110 feet above sea level and I do not have flood insurance as it’s not needed - in fact, when I inquired about it I was told not to waste my money. Those who live in the coastal areas must buy this insurance, but if you can afford a property that costs at least a million dollars then you shouldn’t complain about forking over additional $200 for the flood insurance.

 

Flood insurance is a heck of a lot more expensive than $200. And, it's not just coastal areas because rivers also flood

And where the heck do you live that is 100 feet above sea level? Bok Tower?

 

Flood insurance is not particular to FL, or any one state. And, it's a bit more than $200 for those that need it. A restaurant that is within 2500 feet of a river, must carry flood insurance here, to the tune of $1900 a year. A house on a TVA lake below the 1100 mark, must carry flood insurance, though the flood gates on the dam overflow at 1002. That insurance rate (last I checked) runs about $1000 a year.

 

Average price for flood insurance through NFIP in FL is $562, and no, it is not only for coastal residents because there are flood prone areas inland too.

 

I meant - $200/month. When I was inquiring, I remember being quoted less than $100/month, but, as I said, my elevation is pretty high here. My home insurance for which I’m paying $80/month carries hurricane coverage with $5k deductible.

Im not going to give you my exact location, but I’m a half an hour drive to the northeast of Tampa. The compass on my iPhone is showing elevation of 120ft above sea level when I’m on the first floor in my house.

 

You said its $200 in coastal areas where houses cost a million dollars, when its probably 5-10 times that price.

I don't know what motivates you to pretend insurance is really cheap in Florida when its not. What's the point?

If you live in high elevations, then of course its cheap since the insurance company knows they'll never have to pay it. Earthquake insurance is cheap too, since FL doesn't have them

 

When I lived in Illinois, I paid $140/month for a house with market value of 1/3 of my current new home in Florida.
I’m sorry, but paying $80/month on something that I could sell for like $700k is just not that much money in my eyes.
Same thing with property taxes - I’m paying less property tax in Florida than I paid in Illinois, even though the market value was drastically different.

 

What you claim to pay is becoming a moot point after your recent claims which are clearly not true.

 

I don’t know what to say. I guess I’m lucky and incredibly smart for being able to find such deals.
Also, if one were to believe that chart - why does Zillow quote $175/month insurance for a $500k property if it should be triple of that according to your chart? Zillow’s estimates are pretty good - they were right in the goal park with my amount when I was buying.

 

Whatever makes you happy. If you want to believe Zillow is the funnel of truth, and everyone else is lying, then so be it. Zillow is a computer program, and its estimates are only as good as the data it uses: Garbage in, - garbage out. I checked the "Rent Zestimate" for my house and its not even close to truth, and that should be something that would be more accurate than insurance estimate, because there should be a data source to indicate what people pay in rent (or maybe there isn't), but not so much for insurance.

 

By the way, I just looked into this chart - where did you find it? This is the first time I see an insurance company putting the fact that their rates are more than double the average home insurance in the state.
$2900 per year is $240/month. And that’s state’s average, which includes low lying coastal areas. If the average is $240, why is it so hard to believe that someone whose house has an elevation of 120 feet, and whose house was designed to withstand a category 5 hurricane would pay $80/month for insurance?

 

I never shopped for rent on Zillow, so I have no opinion on that, but when it comes to property tax and insurance estimates they were spot on both times I bought a house. Zillow pulls data from MLS database, which was widely used by realtors nationwide for quite a while. They were in business for at least 3 decades now - plenty of time to improve their accuracy when it comes to such estimates, as they are important to all homebuyers (users of their services).

 

Citizens insurance is Florida State operated insurance company and its considered "insurer of the last resort". It was established 20 years ago (Chapter 627.351(6)) , when the FL insurance crises begun, and people could not get insurance from any other company. See, unlike you, the State of Florida IS aware of the problem. Who knows, maybe they are deliberately driving out private insurers so they can add everyone to the State plan.

Average for $400K home. So, it was around $8000 with Citizens or $3000 non-citizen for a $400K house. So, for your $700K house, it would be about $13 000 with Citizens, or $5 500 if you manage to find non-citizens. Well, you better hope you don't get a letter in the mail saying your insurance policy will not be re-newed. I don't care what you pay, or claim to pay, because THIS is what's happening in Florida, and apparently you were totally unaware of it.

They pull comparable sales from MLS, and its a good data source for that (it contains actual sales prices from the neighborhood), but VERY inaccurate for property tax of insurance (it does not even have insurance data). Taxes are based on what the previous owner paid, which would be based on purchase price from 40 yrs ago + minor adjustments. The buyer could end up paying 3 times that much in property tax, and god knows what in insurance, because they will have to get 4 point inspection + wind mitigation to get new policy.

I am not making this up, and my wife is a realtor, and I know a thing or two about it the MLS, and have used buy and sell quite a few properties in FL.

 

I just get a chuckle from the fact that you claim there is a crisis in Florida, yet I, a Florida resident, was not aware of it till I came across your thread.
In all reality, I think soon my insurance rate will likely increase, something that I experienced in Illinois as well. But it’s not going to be $5k. Don’t forget - insurance is about risk. I have a brand new home that is designed to withstand the worst hurricane that can form in nature. The house is very fortified - for example, in Illinois my attic was hollow, while here it is so reinforced by 2x4s from different angles and there is so much insulation that an adult man can barely fit in there to service my HVAC system. Naturally, a house that carries less risk of being damaged by a natural disaster would be cheaper to insure, don’t you think?

 

Yes, it seems you are are very poorly educated on things which happen in the State you live in. Admitting ignorance doesn't make you look any better, and the fact that you laugh about it indicates that you choose to remain that way.

Why did the Governor call for a special session last week to discuss the issue, and apparently that is the 3rd one already? He said its to bring sanity to the insurance market. Why he waited 6 years is anyone's guess, but apparently now he is under lot of pressure over the issue.

The insurance companies say there are bigger factors (hostile Florida laws), but I already explained it so I wont repeat it.

 

Special session to discuss huge rate increases and the loss of coverage........and apparently some FL residents had absolutely no clue whatsoever

DeSantis announces May special session on Florida property insurance
https://www.tampabay.com/news/flori...pecial-session-on-florida-property-insurance/
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the Florida Legislature will be called back for a special session in May to try to address the instability currently roiling the state’s property insurance system — a problem that has led to huge rate increases and the loss of coverage for.....



DeSantis indicated the insurance session, which he is targeting for May, would try to “bring some sanity and stabilize and have a functioning market.”
https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/polit...egislators-special-session-property-insurance
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday he will call a May special legislative session to address problems in the property-insurance system that have led to homeowners losing coverage and getting hit with large rate increases.

DeSantis indicated the insurance session would try to “bring some sanity and stabilize and have a functioning market.”

Part of the fallout also has led to thousands of homeowners a week obtaining coverage from the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which was created as an insurer of last resort. Citizens had 817,926 policies as of March 31 and is expected to top 1 million by the end of the year.

 

They move here and then complain about it yet they vote for the same policies they fled from.

Makes a lot of sense doesn't it? Probably won't be long until some Florida Democrat establishes some sort of agenda to get a state income tax going and they'll all vote Yes for it.

Chances are the person complaining rents a home.

 

No, when I was selling my home I had to dig up my property tax statements as well as show my insurance billing. When you sell a property you sign a separate statement that says that you provided the most recent tax rate and do not anticipate any significant deviations from current levels. Realtors who handle selling also do a separate research on their own, that’s part of the reason why they get paid.

Yeah, I’m beginning to think that this is the case. He also seem to avoid talking about homestead exemption, something that many of those who don’t own a property in Florida are not aware of.

 

Ummmm.....no. You confuse complaining with wanting to fix things. When there are issues, some people bend over and spread the cheeks, while others grab the bull by the horns and tackle the issue.

There it NOTHING conservative in letting problems fester. Why do you want that?

The Florida laws for the insurance industry are hostile, and its driving them out of the State. For whatever reason it seems you want to keep it that way. Why? What do you have against private companies? You want the State to take over the whole industry? They have already taken over a good chunk of it, and its accelerating. Are you a socialist?

Finally, after 6 years of arguing with teachers and corporations, DeSantis is looking into actual issue. He has called a special session for it, which I am sure you oppose.

 

I never had to, and then again, what's the point, when they are 100% meaningless to the byers. Property tax for the new owner can the 3 times as high as it was for you, and same it true with insurance. But you said its all in the MLS, which it isnt, which is why Zillow estimates for tax and insurance are meaningless.

Stop making stuff up. You have ZERO control over what the next owner has to pay in tax or insurance. The tax will be based on the purchase price and if the buyer is out of State, there is no portability, and they will pay a heck of a lot more than someone who bought the place for a fraction of the price 30 yrs ago. Same with insurance. There is a good chance they will end up with Citizens.

You say that after I already told you I have bought and sold quite a few properties in Florida. I own my place, and I am also a landlord. You have avoided talking about homestead as much as everyone else, since no one has brought it up, so what you are trying to pull here is pretty dishonest. Homestead is 50K, which is fast becoming a non-factor given the property prices. A 700K house would be taxed at 650K after homestead. It hardly makes any difference at all. The 1 million 1 br condos the other poster was talking about would be taxed at 950K, + they will pay $1000 or more in HOA per month.

 

An alternative is to buy flood insurance that will only reimburse you for half of the damages. That will be half as expensive.
Then you will need to have some savings saved up in case something happens.
It's usually cheaper if you can provide your own insurance and have the money saved up to do so.

Or maybe people will decide to start building their house on stilts, like they do in some other parts of the world.

 

Flood insurance is another policy on top of the homeowners policy.

Average prices - Flood Insurance
Jacksonville $457
Miami $390
Tampa $859
Orlando $525
St. Petersburg $950
Hialeah $392
Port St. Lucie $389
Tallahassee $670
Cape Coral $731
Fort Lauderdale $405

 

once you go inland east of Tampa is does get a little hilly until you hit Orlando where again it's flat

The MT Dora area is cool but I'll take the Gulf coast all day long. Sand bars and tiki bars; a boater's paradise

 

Thats why we picked the Gulf side - beautiful barrier islands, warm, shallow sea, and virtually no ocean current, so when you are in the water you don’t drift far from your spot on the beach.

 

It would be even better if we could get the phosphate industry to stop dumping all of their wastewater into the Gulf causing red tide. It was pretty bad last year