Even though the state has been largely hurricane free the past three years, new clouds are forming on the horizon as many Florida insurance companies may look to raise rates. And if they don’t get the rates that they want, you should expect them to start dropping and cancelling policies again.
State Farm Florida is leading the way on this. After the State of Florida recently turned down t https://npfinancials.com.au/the company’s request for 47% rate increase, the company is appealing that decision in court. You should expect other companies to follow State Farm’s lead.
Prior to Hurricane Andrew in 1992 it was easy to find homeowners insurance in Florida. It was simply a matter of picking up the phone book and calling your nearest agent. There were hundreds of companies who wanted your business.
That kind of Florida home insurance market is long gone – replaced today by a dysfunctional market where less than 40 companies are actively writing any new business at any time in the state. And unlike the old days where companies had large surpluses and deep multinational parents to help absorb hurricane claims, most of the home insurance companies still active in the market are very small, Florida based companies.
Many of these Florida based companies just opened their doors for business during the past three years. As a result, there is a lot of concern about many of these companies being undercapitalized and lacking in post hurricane claim processing experience – a potentially lethal combination that could lead to long delays in getting claims paid after a Florida hurricane.
In this brave new world of smaller, newer, lightly funded Florida home insurance companies, shopping for insurance the old way just won’t work anymore. As a consumer, you have to change your strategy and tactics to be successful in finding affordable Florida home insurance in today’s market.
Here are some steps that you can take as a smart consumer to find the lowest cost Florida homeowners insurance:
Don’t use a captive insurance agent that only represents a limited number of companies. Instead use an independent agent that represents multiple companies that will allow the agent to present you with many options.
Don’t work with only one independent agent. Work with several. Why? Because a single agent doesn’t carry all of the companies that are actively w