To say the property insurance market in Florida is dramatically changing would be an understatement. There are new underwriting guidelines coming out on a regular basis, carriers dropping policies by the thousands, storms wreaking havoc on rates, litigation issues, fraud issues, and more. In working with homeowners today, we tell them to forget what they used to know about home insurance.
Underwriting guidelines have changed among carriers and as an industry as a whole. This means pricing is different, what they will cover has changed, guidelines for what is needed when purchasing a home have tightened, etc. Unfortunately, this all means insurance rates continue to go up and another active storm season will not help the situation. Even if you have never had a claim, your rates are going up and this is more than a “sunshine tax” for living in our beautiful state. Litigation and abuse are the main reason for the continually increasing rates Florida Homeowners are seeing.
Let’s break this down…
There are several ways in which people and companies are trying to take advantage of a pretty
broken system. Homeowners are hiring attorneys to make their insurance claim before even trying to file the claim with the insurance carrier
The above is stemming from contractors manipulating the system to get homeowners to do the above. This is something referred to as assignment of benefits abuse which has been covered by several news outlets over the past few years.
Remember the term “ambulance chaser”? This is a new form of this. There are a few law offices that are knowingly manipulating the home insurance claims system and add fee multipliers that just deepen their own pockets.
By the numbers
8% of the nation’s claims are derived from Florida, however, Florida accounts for 76% of all property insurance litigation in the nation. Let that sink in… Most other states don’t have the litigation flexibility that the State of Florida has allowed and therefore does not have nearly the case numbers we do. As an example, Florida allowed 3 years to make a claim from a hurricane while other states only allow 6 months, 12 months or 2 years.
Why are my insurance rates going up?
It’s not just your policy, or your agency, or your company. It’s everyone. Every company has taken rate increases to cover the costs of outrageous litigation and abuse. Next year, insurance carriers are already talking 20% average increases across the board.
Providing Peace of Mind
It’s not just our tagline, it’s our promise. While we can not affect carrier rates, we can guide you to ensure you are getting the best coverage and the best price for your situation.
