Florida and Allstate Insurance Toe-to-Toe

My advice to people moving to Florida and shopping for homeowners insurance is to always check with your current carrier (assuming you're happy with the rates and service you receive) to see if they offer policies in Florida.

Well, for the time being, if your current insurer is Allstate, you're out of luck. Allstate is locked in a battle with Florida's Insurance Commissioner over documents regarding the rates Allstate charges for hurricane insurance.

Florida's Insurance Commisioner originally ordered Allstate to stop selling homeowner's policies until the matter was resolved, but has now gone a step further and has ordered Allstate to stop writing ALL new policies, including automobile policies.

I don't expect this little tif to last too long...I can't see how the citizen's of Florida come out a winner in having one of the largest insurers not being able to write new policies. Granted, this does not effect policies currently in place or their renewals. But in my mind, healthy competition is about the only thing that ever seems to keep prices down.

Update 1: That was fast...by order of the 1st District Court of Appeals, Allstate is back open for business.

New Florida homeowners insurance option for the rich

If your home is worth $1 million or more, there is a new company that wants your homeowners insurance business. The company is called PURE. Read an article about it from the Naples Daily News. PURE says that they can offer the owners of "high-value property" better insurance rates than they might otherwise find on the market.

I don't know how many Boomers on the Move readers this will apply to, but it is worth noting that there are other options available for insurance if you've got the money.

Maybe something else like this will come along soon for the rest of us.

Possible Flood Insurance Reform

There's a whole section in my new book Florida for Boomers about flood insurance and how important it is to have flood insurance regardless of where your home is located. There may be some changes to the National Flood Insurance Program coming up:

"Currently, homeowners can obtain up to $250,000 in coverage for their houses or condominiums, plus up to $100,000 in coverage for their contents. But last year, the House voted to raise those limits to $335,000 and $135,000, respectively."

It's anybody's guess whether or not these changes will be enacted by Congress, but the wheels are in motion. Read the full article

Florida Homeowner's Insurance Update

97.8% of you heading this way are concerned about Florida's Property Insurance "crisis". Here's the latest update:

In January 2007 Florida legislators passed a bill that could lower property insurance premiums and bring other insurance relief to millions of property owners. Among the highlights of the 167-page bill are means to lower rates for homeowners by allowing owners to exclude windstorm and contents coverage, allowing owners to choose higher deductibles so that their premiums will be lower, removing the requirement that Citizen’s charge the highest premiums, and allowing non-homesteaded properties to be eligible for Citizen’s.
In order to further protect policyholders, the bill requires insurance companies to give 100 days notice of their intent to cancel a homeowner’s policy that would be effective during hurricane season, requires insurance companies to expedite payments of claims after storms, and prohibits excess profits by insurers.
The bill also makes an effort to expand the property insurance market in Florida by requiring insurance companies that write homeowners policies in other states and auto insurance policies in Florida, to write homeowners policies in Florida.
Insurance companies lobbied heavily against this bill, and there are fears of companies pulling out of Florida altogether. Just like the property tax issue, it’s a matter of “wait and see” before we can determine the effects of this legislation.

Read More:
Governor Christ Press Release

Insurance Companies Response