You’ve worked hard to buy your house.  It saw you through those early years of marriage when beanie weenies was on the menu several times a week, the birth of your daughter, followed quickly by the next two kids (both girls).  The house became awash in shades of pink, nail polish bottles and eyeshadow.  The backyard cemetery holds the remains of three hamsters, a couple hermit crabs, two chickens and countless numbers of fish.  At times it felt obsessively small, and when the kids had friends over it was overwhelmingly loud.  It protected you through the no-name storm, the hurricane that came alarmingly close to the coastline and dozens of summer thunderstorms that sent the kids scurrying to your bed in the middle of the night.

There’s No Place like Home

You’ve travelled around the world, but there is something comforting about turning down your street – you strain your eyes to catch a glimpse of the corner of the house, sighing with relief when you turn into the driveway – there is just something about ‘coming home’.

You keep your house looking good – the lawn stays mowed, the gutters get cleaned out every season and every few years she gets a new coat of paint to keep her looking her best.  The most important thing you can do for your house, however, is to make sure that you’re armed with the best home insurance in Florida possible.

Finding a Plan

Finding the best home insurance in Florida means more than doing a late night search on the internet trying to find the least expensive plan available.  It means doing some research, talking to your friends and neighbors, calling a few agents for a quote and then comparing them.

There is no one size fits all plan for homeowners in Florida – rates can vary depending on where in the state you live, how close to a coastline you are, if you are in a flood zone…a variety of factors can influence the […]

The Best Florida Home Insurance Has The Coverage You Really Need

Even the best Florida home insurances rates are climbing yearly. Florida is subject to some of the most extreme weather in the nation, and when many homeowners make claims, it’s common for rates to rise in following years. If you’re trying to save money on your home insurance in Florida, shopping around for the lowest price isn’t the only way you can do it. If you understand the most common claims you’re likely to make on your insurance, you can tailor your policy to save money now, and keep from spending money out of pocket if you need to file a claim later, only to find that you’re underinsured.

Water Damage

As you might expect in a subtropical and tropical state like Florida, water damage is the most common claim made on homeowner insurance policies. Many homeowners incur big expenses when they skimp on water damage coverage, thinking that Flood Insurance will cover them in the event of any water damage. Flood Insurance, while useful, only pays for damage due to flooding when it’s part of a natural disaster. If your roof leaks badly in a rainstorm after a tree branch falls on it, or one of your plumbing pipes bursts and wrecks your home’s interior, only your homeowner insurance policy’s coverage will pay for the repairs. The best Florida home insurance policies should have high coverage limits for water damage.

Lightning Strikes

Florida’s climate makes heavy storms and lightning strikes very common. Florida residents are sometimes caught underinsured for damage caused by lightning strikes because they carry the wrong insurance to cover them. Because lightning strikes are so often associated with heavy rain, homeowners assume that either flood insurance or water damage riders on their policies will […]

If you’re looking for homeowners insurance, Florida rates can seem astronomical. Florida is the most expensive state in America for insurance for the home, and there’s little relief in sight. The typical premium for the average house in Florida is close to $2000 per year. That’s more than four times the cost of insuring a house in the least expensive state, Idaho. Florida homeowners insurance is more than double the national average, and continued cost increases could threaten the state’s reputation for a low cost of living compared to the rest of the nation.

Hurricane Claims Are Down, Profits Are Up For Insurers

Florida insurers are enjoying profitable years as hurricane claims are way down recently, and that’s making state insurance regulators examine homeowners insurance Florida rates more carefully. Florida has a recently instituted a state-run homeowner’s insurance pool called Citizens Property Insurance as well as more traditional free-market policies offered by private insurers. Some observers expected Citizens Property to put downward pressure on rates, but in the latest year with available figures, adding Citizens data into the average added almost 25 percent to the premium average. This increase may be attributable to Citizens offering coverage to homeowners living in the riskiest properties for insurance, which would command even higher premiums in the private market, or might even be uninsurable. Citizens Property now accounts for almost 20 percent of the entire home insurance market in Florida.

It’s sometimes difficult to estimate the true cost of insurance by looking at state to state averages because of big variations in real estate value, potential hazards, including natural disasters, and economic conditions.

Homeowners Insurance Doesn’t Cover Flooding

In Florida, customers are less interested in comparisons to other states, […]

To many people, the sky-high home insurance rates in Florida come as a bit of a surprise. Many friends and family often confess to me that, they find it odd that such a sunny, cheerful state should be effected by such catastrophic home insurance rates. However, to many of us Floridians, crazy expensive homeowners policies have become the norm. However, how many of you knew that Florida actually boasts some of the highest home insurance rates in the entire federal republic of the U.S A? I bet that not many of you knew that. Well, now you do. However, if you happen to be lucky enough to live in the sunny state of Florida, you may want to know exactly what these high prices mean.

The Pinch

Ok, so it’s not just the homeowners of Florida who are being effected by the sky-rocketing home insurance rates in Florida. The State’s economy is beginning to feel the pinch. Due to the high prices which homeowners are required to pay, many homeowners budgets are beginning to strain a little. This means that, well, the state of Florida’s economy is not doing as well as other states. As many of you will know, the average premium for home insurance in Florida is around $1933, according to a report published by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. This price is four times the price of a similar policy in Idaho, which is the cheapest state in terms of home insurance.

Above Average

In fact, the insurance in Florida is now twice the amount of the national average. A key factor in Florida’s growth as the sunshine state has been, until recently, its glowing reputation for low-cost living. However, this growth is being effected by the increasing insurance rates. People are leaving the state and many people, especially young people, are reluctant to move there due to fears that they will not be able to insure their homes. This means that, there are less people to work in our beautiful state and, anyone could tell you that, this is having negative impacts on […]

Florida has long been a favorite destination for those hoping to get away from the harsh, bitter winters that plague other parts of the country.  However, there are some things that new arrivals to the Sunshine state should be aware of, one of which is the cost of property insurance.

Florida property insurance rates are the highest in the nation, and this has had a devastating impact on both the economy, and homeowners’’ budgets.  When you consider that Florida’s overall reputation has always been a place for rather low cost living, the exorbitant rates are certainly causing many to wonder if they should consider the move.

Lack of Claims Does Not Matter

In the past couple of years, Florida homeowners have been pretty lucky as far as the lack of devastating hurricanes, but this has not stopped a steady increase in property insurance rates.  In the last year, state regulators saw rate increase requests climb by nearly 70%, forcing them to take a hard look at exactly why these rates are so high.

Considerations

When determining the cost of insurance rates in Florida, it is important to understand that there are a wide range of policies covering the state of Florida.  The means that when the rate averages are determined, areas of low crime and weather threats are lumped in along with those with considerably higher threat levels.  The result is a rather skewed view of the actual property insurance rates in areas that are not considered high risk.

How Rates are Determined

FL property insurance rates are determined by where the home is located, as well as the potential risk of the insurance companies having to pay a claim.  Considering the rapid growth of coastal areas, where there is obviously a high possibility of damage from hurricanes, […]

There are many different problems that can lead to increases for property insurance in Florida.  Understanding the most common claims can help you choose the policy that best fits your needs, so you do not have to worry about significant out-of-pocket costs later on.

Water Damage

Water damage is one of the most frequent filed claims in the state of Florida, but these claims do not include all the costs associated with flooding.  Water damage policies cover sudden issues that result from damaged or broken pipes, or drain failures that result in plumbing backups.  In some Florida counties, these costs average well over $6,000 per claim.

Burglary or Theft

Stolen property due to theft or burglary often results in nearly $3,000 in claims, making it another one of the most often filed losses.   For this reason, you should make sure that any property insurance you choose provides adequate coverage for this issue.

Wind Damage

Many areas in Florida are subjected to high winds.  These can occur in tornadoes, hurricanes, or cyclones, and the damages can be significant.  Wind related property insurance claims in Florida generally cost over $5,300 dollars or more, depending on the area in which you live.

Physical Damage

Physical damage can include a wide range of causes, but these damages are those that are not covered or listed under any other part of the property insurance policy.  These damages affect personal property and typically result in more than $3,000 per claim.

Lightning

Heavy storms are the norm in many areas of Florida, resulting in numerous claims of lightning damage.  These types of claims include any damages that are the result of an atmospheric electric discharge, including fire.  Most of these claims cost nearly $3,100 per claim.

Floods

Flooding is common in Florida, […]

Three things Florida home insurance companies don’t want you to know

While the overwhelming majority of Florida home insurance companies out there are on the “up and up” and run completely legitimate businesses, there are a number of less than ethical insurance companies looking to squeeze every penny out of anyone they can – with absolutely no worry or concern about what it does to you.

And even if there isn’t any malicious intent behind some of the actions that Florida home insurance companies take they might still be keeping you from saving all of the money that you otherwise would be, which is why you’ll want to pay close attention to all of the details included below.

While nowhere near the completed comprehensive list of everything that Florida home insurance companies may try to “hide” from you, here are just a couple of things that you’ll want to be aware of before you sign up for coverage with any of them!

You can always shop for a better deal

The first thing that you need to know is that you are always – ALWAYS – able to shop for a better deal whenever you are looking for Florida home insurance.

Even though you have signed an agreement with a particular insurance agency, you still have the right to investigate and research the rates available from other Florida home insurance companies (as well as the coverage that they provide) and make the decision to “jump ship” whenever you feel like it.

If you use this as a powerful bargaining tool at the negotiation table, you could end up with significant savings – and an endless source of significant savings, if you use it once a year or so – that can help you to protect your bank account and your property at the exact same time!

You might be available for significant discounts that are “hidden” from the general public

Secondly, […]

You Can Quote Me

You probably just typed “home insurance quote Tallahassee FL” into Google and saw all the results. Yeah, there’s a lot.  Every insurer wants you at their site getting a quote from them and making an on the spot decision.

It’s not enough to just get a quote; you need to be able to get the right quote on the right policy and the right riders.  Sound confusing?  You’re not alone.

So, what constitutes a good home insurance quote in Tallahassee, FL?  Well, first, what constitutes a good home insurance policy for Tallahassee?

Bank On It

That depends on what is important to you or your mortgage company in an insurance policy.  Why your mortgage company?  For the same reason the bank that owns your loan has a say in the type of policy you need, to protect their assets.

When you’re in the process of purchasing a home, the mortgage company will give you a specific coverage level they require you to have.  If you’ve owned your home for a while and are looking to change companies, give the bank a call and ask what level of coverage you need.

Show You the Money

Once you know the policy you need, it’s time to get some quotes.  If you go to the website for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, you can narrow down the hundreds of property and casualty insurance companies by area.  That way, you’ll only be looking at the ones for Tallahassee and not the ones for, say, Miami.

Check with your friends and neighbors, too.  Some will have the same insurance company.  Make sure you really focus on asking in-depth questions so you can compare the answers about the same company.  If you get a lot of the same answers, whether good or bad, from different people about one company, you can pretty well trust it.

Choice Agent

Get the name of the local agent they use.  Again, some will be the same; some will be different, even for the […]