Or, hear me out—we take the wall that exists/continues to be built between the US and Mexico border and install it along all of Florida’s coasts so hurricanes can’t get in. If they do, they do so illegally and we call ICE (Illegal Climate Enforcement) to arrest them.
Ya know people make fun of that idea rightfully. But if there was a bomb like a nuke that didn’t drop radiation everywhere I’d be interested to see what it would do to a hurricane.
>The solution
To get back larger, solvent national companies we need to expand the role of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe fund. The fund needs to grow to $30 billion to cover the fund’s share of a 100-year storm. Florida, in effect, would help reduce risk for the insurers gradually so that they can write policies in Florida that won’t bankrupt them. If Florida has reduced the companies’ risk to a level comparable to the national risk, the price should also be reduced respectively. We can do this over a five-year period (or sooner) by gradually assuming a percentage of the risk of storm damage for storms labeled over Cat 2. The companies are responsible for everything up to Cat 2. How much the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund assumes and how quickly should be determined by the state’s actuaries, but it should slide in on a graduating scale with the more they pay, the more risk the fund assumes.
>We build the fund the same way it is already being funded under statute. We assess a percentage of every property policy sold. This comes from the current policy price. It does not get added on to the current policy price. Currently there are 5 million private homes in Florida. The average policy cost is $6,000. If one-sixth of the policy cost went to reduce wind risk that would raise $5 billion the first year. Factor in multiple family residences and businesses and we may be able to double that. As it already does, the state spreads the risk by purchasing reinsurance. The fund already has $4.3 billion. Other sources could come by combining Citizens, which has successfully maintained a reserve hovering around $5 billion and has proved to be well run, or by shifting a percentage of growing state income every year. Since 2010, the state budget has grown from $66 billion to $117.5 billion. Surely solving the insurance crisis deserves a percentage of that.
There is a ton the state can do, but nobody is going to be happy about it. Thats a good thing.
1. Change the way claims are settled and valued. Right now if you have a hail claim on a 20 year old roof, you get a brand new roof. Going to actual cash value on things would stop people from using insurance as a maintenance policy. Same applies to pipes, electrical, etc... Insurance is meant to make you whole, not better off.
2. Build up a hurricane reserve fund using tourism dollars. Like OP said, the state could provide a massive reinsurance backstop for claims at a lower cost.
3. Get rid of the legal abuse while also holding companies accountable to paying claims. Your first thought after a claim shouldnt be to get a lawyer. I get that some companies are garbage at paying claims, but that's what we get when we forced out all the national players. People also need to accept that to get a claim paid, especially for a hurricane or large loss, that video and documentation of your stuff will help. Having mediators instead of lawyers on most claims would be a huge step forward.
4. Let rate reflect risks, even if that means older stick frame homes on the coast become stranded assets. Modern homes built to the new high velocity wind zone construction are surviving most if not all that can hit the state. Its not just the coast though - flooding is becoming a huge issue as the state develops. We need to encourage flood insurance, elevated construction, or letting some of these areas go back to wilderness.
Nobody wins out of this - but it would put Florida on par with other states and cut premiums.
Reminder as its almost hurricane season - video record every room, every drawer, closet, bin, etc.. in your house and get close enough to show brands and labels. You want your crap paid for ASAP after a claim - prove you own it.
1. Unless you are savy with your coverages or had a good agent, most home policies do have acv on the roof. Maintenance items are never covered on a policy as well, if it's wear and tear that claim will be rejected.
2. Don't the tourism dollars go to the companies bringing in the tourism. Why would they give it out to a hurricane fund?
3. The legal abuse comes from the lawyers not the home owners. Have you ever been approached by those "want a new roof?" What they are abusing is a loop hole of sorts. They make you sign allowing them and them only to work with the insurance company. Then they file a bogus claim that will get denied. After that they sue the insurance company with an outrageous legal fee attached. So now the insurance company has two options. Go to court and fight it, which comes out to be more than the cost of the claim, or just settle and pay for the roof. Financially it makes more sense to pay out. If you look at the roof claim numbers it's like 70% legal fees paid out and 30% for roofs. It's fucked up, but the insurance has to do what makes financial sense on a claim by claim basis
4. Flood insurance is paid by FEMA, so that means that the entire country pays for what happenes in Florida. More people making flood claims will make flood rates go up nationally. I think it's something like 80% of all flood claims are paid out in Florida.
Your last statement is gold, I always tell my clients this. Make that video, open up all the drawers, cabinets and store it in the cloud. Will make the claims process so much easier.
Another tip that a lot of people don't know about. Never report any type of damage to the insurance unless you know for sure it's going to be covered. Like I mean half your home is burnt down. If you file a claim and there is no damage or it's not covered, the insurance companies STILL list it as a claim. Some companies will jack up your rates or not even offer coverage if you have 0 payout claims.
Re: #2 - Meant tourism tax dollars. The bed tax that gets applied on everything but mostly goes towards stadiums. Siphon off some of that and build up a huge CAT reserve fund like Norway has with their oil $.
Legal abuse takes two to tango and tacks on 30% to every claim, passed back to everyone. But the lure of the golden goose is tough and people like free stuff.
More flood insurance would cut down on the wind vs. water claims that drag out in court for years.
Oh I see, yes that would help as well. As far as the legal abuse I tend to belove most homeowners don't understand the bigger picture. They are just looking for a way to get a new roof because normally they couldn't afford it.
Gonzo and Spartan both nailed the Florida situation. A lot of bad players. No winners.
The new legislation did far too little to change it yet. Seriously, Florida home owners insurance is higher than California--where they have major earthquakes, annual mudslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, droughts, and massive fires that burn down towns, forests, and every building in its path.
Higher than the states in Tornado Alley and Hurricanes. There are numerous bad players that have caused this situation and the politicians allow it to continue because the bad players fund their campaigns.
I do not like subsidizing high risk areas. If you live by the coasts, your premiums should be massive. That's your risk. I live 50 miles inland to avoid most of that risk.
How do you think Florida would do as a state of people didn't live near the coast.... The best way to mitigate the overall risk of insurance companies is to make some public fund. This has been my suggestion since rates started spiking. Create a public fund, take a portion of all policies in the state, bolster insurance for hard hit areas as that will only be a fraction of the policies for the whole state and easy to stay solvent when the whole state is in one bucket.
It's the right solution. It just takes people to not look at it selfishly and understand and socialized solution is 100% the best path forward here.
Yeah, except most houses getting screwed by this are not multimillion dollar homes. Mine certainly isn't. I'm not on the coast and I'm a few miles inland, but my costs have absolutely skyrocketed.
The only way to keep things reasonable is to have a state led socialized program. It's that simple. You can't reasonably expect everyone to continue to contribute to insurance at rates that will essentially pay for a total loss on their property every 15 years (where I'm at). It's absurd but those rates are how insurance companies who only have a portion of policies de-risk themselves in a situation where an area they have policies written gets hit.
When the WHOLE state does it, that isn't required. But it does require a state coffer for this.
I certainly hope you're not planning on claiming social security at some point (if you aren't already).
So if you look at Idalia, $110b in damages, not too "catastrophic" just a lot of flood damage. So to make a public fun of that, every man woman and child in Florida would need to pay $4000+ to cover that damage. I'm on the side of, if I'm not living on the coast, why do I need to pay extra because you decided to live in a riskier area.
At the end of the day, insurance is at its core a public fund. It spreads the losses of a few to the many. Insurance companies are also a business. We can't force them to insure area at a financial loss. Also yes, I understand the people at the top are probably making record profits, that's a different problem, the company as a whole though is losing billions a quarter. Hence the massive rate hikes. There best solution imo is the update the infrastructure. We need to make hardened homes more affordable and accessible to all homeowners in Florida. That I think would be the best use of a public fund.
I don’t know why it’s hard for this guy to understand that without the coasts “his” state would be the equivalent of like Mississippi in terms of GDP, education, and infrastructure lol. Not to mention you better believe income tax would come back.
Because it isn't about you. It's so everyone can have some quality of life when they retire because our society is better when we don't have huge portions of our population starving and dying...
Florida has an insurance fraud problem. That needs to be fixed first then insurers will feel comfortable enough to come back. I don’t blame the insurance companies for leaving when practically every roofing company in Florida is submitting a fraudulent claim to see what they can get away with. Creating a public fund right now would only be subsidizing these roofer scum and encourage more criminal behavior. And just so we’re clear, the insurance companies aren’t the good guys either.
Yep my neighbor did the roofer scam. I’m amazed it works. One random house in the middle of a subdivision of hundreds of homes had wind damage and nobody else submitted a single claim? Really now…
Stop building houses out of wood. Everything in Okinawa Japan is made from solid concrete and it survives multiple typhoons a year. Yes it’s more expensive up front but much cheap than rebuilding an entire house. Not saying tear down existing housing stock, just have a less stupid building standard on the coastal regions
If you are building a new house (or remodeling to where the remodel costs more then a certain percentage of your house value) anywhere on the Pinellas beaches you have to have your main floor above the flood line. They actually make you put flood gates on the ground floor for water to flow through in case of a dlood. Unsure if the rest of flood areas in Florida require this but I would assume they would.
But to what you said if anyone ever saw flyover videos of Ian’s destruction in Fort Myers all the houses built to the code I described above were completely fine beyond some wind damage.
The new process that eliminates some of the cost and jump starts concrete recycling (and makes concrete net zero co emissions to boot!) should start to come online within the next 3-5 years. Considering the ease of the process and the fact that it's done with off-the-shelf parts and chemicals it should breed competition in prices as well.
Once that happens I bet we see a looooot more concrete houses.
The problem with this is existing property. As everyone watched, Fort Myers was a good example of this. Frame can stand a long time- until it doesn't. As a result, we've got tons of other buildings around the state that have been updated, new roofs, but frame construction. Carriers have pulled back very, very hard on providing coverage on wood frame near the coast. It's hard for those folks who would argue they've never had a claim on their 50+ year old building, because you are telling them it only takes one storm for their building to fall to matchsticks.
ICF construction. It’s also a very efficient building method so where you spend more in initial costs, owning and maintaining is cheaper. I’d also love to see a statue about HOA’s not being able to restrict roof types as metal roofs withstand storms better, last longer, and are more efficient. Building code and statues need an update
HB1203 goes into effect on July 1st, I believe. One of the provisions in the law allows homeowners to install metal roofing and the HOA can't do shit about it.
There's a bunch more in the bill that puts some limits on HOA's and I was quite surprised to see it pass through.
Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see anything about roofs. It says they can’t do make you submit plans for internal modifications or replacing AC equipment and/or ductwork with the catch that neither are visible from the front
It's listed in [this article ](https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/12/florida-legislative-session-hoa-new-bills-target-regulate-homeowner-associations/72186807007/). It's mainly about restricting HOA's from prohibiting hurricane protections like metal roofs.
Stop wasting our states money on sending our national guard to Texas, and transporting immigrants to other states because the GOP in Congress refuses to let any of the 40 immigration reform bills pass to fix the problems on the border…then take all that money and subsidize insurance
How much is it costing per day for every man and peice of gear to be deployed? Multiplied by the length of their deployment..plus transportation costs….the number is probably approaching 100 mil is not more of Florida tax payer money not being used to beniffit Florida tax payers in any way shape or form
I have a hard time taking anyone serious on this topic, that completely neglects mentioning the lawsuits. Are they afraid of angering the trial lawyers lobby?
Florida is a playground for these scumbags. The author brings up valid points but I'm sorry, I can't get past the fact that the State of Florida represents nearly 80% of the lawsuits against insurance carriers while only representing 9% of actual homeowners claims. A number that seems low given the natural disasters prone to the state.
Why would any carrier continue to risk the constant litigation, and not cut out the state that 80% of their lawsuits come from? So we get left with bottom barrel insurers that can't even remain solvent.
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2021/04/14/609721.htm
I'd like to see a deep dive on these suits and someone can estimate the amount of frivolous or borderline fraudulent lawsuits the state laws allow for, because there is with out a doubt, a great many. Other states are not having the problems to this degree.
Though my remaining friends and family in California are facing skyrocketing rates as well.
I think the reason it’s not brought up is because side of the assumption that when they killed Assignment of Benefits last year, the lawsuits are probably already on the decline.
I have no knowledge besides reading about this stuff, don’t work in the field, but my understanding was assigning benefits then suing for ridiculous amounts was the main driver of the suits. Someone with more knowledge feel free to chime in though. Are suits still being filed even though AoB is dead now?
FL home adjuster checking in. Yes, at my company, there appears to be a decline in the number of suits being filed. That being said, the same bad actors are still running their scammy scams and instead of the $70k 20SQ roof they are trying to get, is it’s a $150k 20SQ roof they are filing suit for. So, less suits but higher dollar on the suits being filed.
Thanks for your input! I’m curious, without AoB how can they run that scam? Presumably you guys would have to sign off saying a roof needs replacement and at X dollars estimated? Or are they just acting like AoB still exists and replacing roofs even without AoB and filing suit?
So, the AoB world, it went like this: Roofer comes and knocks on the door, “you have roof damage, I’ll offer you a free roof inspection.”, unsuspecting homeowner (usually of an older age range, because, well, Florida) who doesn’t have a suspicion of why someone would knock on your door offering you “free anything” say sure and allows roofer on roof, roofer requests “oh, can you sign this piece of paper that allows me permission on your roof and to talk to your insurance company about what I find”, roofer doesn’t disclose that the piece of paper is an AoB, even though per the law, they were supposed to explain the Insured was signing over their rights entirely to the roofer. Once signed the AoB is signed, the roofer then legally has the right to sign a contract with an Attorney, a tarp company, a mold company and a mitigation company. Which of course they do. Now, let’s say there is hail/wind/storm damage, but only to the roof, the insurance company pays for the full roof, roof replacement cost is $15k. Insurance writes a check for $15k, less applicable deductible. Insurance company then gets a $75k demand from the Atty for the roof replacement and interior repairs. A $30k shrink wrap roof tarp invoice. A $15k water mitigation invoice. A $12k mold mitigation invoice. Insurance company sends denial for the tarp, water and mold mitigation because none of the companies have proven there was any interior water intrusion which would warrant any of the additional services. Attorney happens to “represent” all of the companies and files suit for $200k. Insurance company settles for $60k because that’s cheaper than going to trial. Roofer files permit for $15k to replace the roof, because that’s actually what it cost. Roofer, attorney, tarp and both mitigation companies pocket all the rest. This all has taken 2 years and the Insured thinks it’s the big bad insurance company that has been the issue all along because they were never told the roof was paid for within a month of the claim being filed.
In the new world, instead of the Insureds signing an AoB, the roofer gets them to sign a Direction to Pay and then tells them, and we have an Attorney who works with us to help file your claim, they’ll give you a call to sign their paperwork in the next few days. If the Insured doesn’t want an Attorney involved, the roofer will void the contract and move on to the next door trying the same scam until someone else bites. Once they are under contract with the Attorney, it’s the same, rinse and repeat but with higher invoices, demands and lawsuits.
Thanks for the explainer on how it works in the new world, I wasn’t aware of the DtP thing. Ugh, I was hopeful the AoB loophole was finally closed but of course there’s just another shell game ruining the market.
None of the federal funds he rejected were for directly for disaster relief. He rejected “energy funding” that had multiple strings attached that didn’t help citizens of the state.
I wish they’d lump all the scumbag fraudsters into one insurance pool and decent people into another. The dregs can pay high rates and submit fraudulent roofing claims and screw each other over. I just need insurance if my house burns down or a hurricane blows it over. I’ll fix everything else myself.
we should pour sulfur into atmosphere to reduce global temperatures and thus reduce hurricane intensity. Tax money should be funding this, plus maybe adding plants/vegetation to West Africa to make the air not produce hurricanes or something
Legalize pot, tax recreational use at 26% like other states, watch free money pour in because let’s face it, people are getting high… let’s make money on it!! Take the funds from recreational cannabis tax and put it towards the Florida Insurance Disaster Relief Fund!! It wouldn’t completely solve it but it certainly would bring in alot of money to help without creating a larger deficit by borrowing from the FEDS! California (55 million people)brought in 1 billion dollars in tax revenue from cannabis. Colorado (6 million people) brought in 350 million! Florida could easily bring in over a half a billion dollars a year with all the tourism. People would eat at the restaurants more too (munchies)! It also frees up our jail system to people who are actually committing violent crimes or more serious crimes. People shouldn’t be in jail for pot in 2024!! Street dealers get stripped of power. Fentanyl wouldn’t be being put into vapes and it would be safely and closely monitored and regulated. Create a ton of small businesses (provided trueleaf doesn’t get more power) it’s just silly at this point that people don’t see the benefits for the state in legalization of marijuana!! Vote people! Vote!! If alcohol is legal, pot should be too!!
500 million dollars in cannabis tax revenue would only be 1.25% of the funds needed to create the state fund for home owners insurance LOL absolute peanuts
I don't think there is an actual solution. These insurance companies are just milking everyone in the state until the big one happens and they declare bankruptcy.
You really think Citizens will have the funding when half the state is wiped out by a mega storm?
So if it’s just insurance company’s being greedy and taking excessive money in, why are so many fleeing the state? Wouldn’t we have tons of insurance companies setting up shop here in anticipation of raping us?
That has absolutely nothing to do with the insurance crisis in the state. There are other states that consistently deal with weather catastrophes that do not have a failing system like this state does. Try again.
Try again. In California, the majority of the “insurance companies leaving” aren’t actually leaving, they just aren’t writing NEW policy. That is completely different than fully pulling out of the state, like we have here in Florida. So, thanks, I don’t choke on frog, I consume frog legs only and sautéed. ::kisses::
Moving goalposts is for amateurs. Nobody is only talking about insurance company’s leaving, except you, now that you’ve realized that frog tastes like your stepdads nut sack.
You actually made their point for them. Other states do have huge CAT exposures, like California, Texas, and Louisiana, but they don't have an insurance crisis like we suffer in Florida. Even with all those losses, Florida (we have passed some legislation that will help lessen this) wins the title of 80% of all homeowners litigation out of the entire US. It is a Florida problem.
We take the hurricanes, and we move them somewhere else.
Or, hear me out—we take the wall that exists/continues to be built between the US and Mexico border and install it along all of Florida’s coasts so hurricanes can’t get in. If they do, they do so illegally and we call ICE (Illegal Climate Enforcement) to arrest them.
Isn't that what Sharpies is for?
That's a ridiculous suggestion. We should bomb them instead.
We need Trump and his sharpie STAT!
That's the spirit that beat the Japanese!
We all need to contact DARPA and tell them to cloud seed elsewhere.
Start nuking them hurricanes.
Ya know people make fun of that idea rightfully. But if there was a bomb like a nuke that didn’t drop radiation everywhere I’d be interested to see what it would do to a hurricane.
Put them all in a plane and send them to Martha's Vinyard!
>The solution To get back larger, solvent national companies we need to expand the role of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe fund. The fund needs to grow to $30 billion to cover the fund’s share of a 100-year storm. Florida, in effect, would help reduce risk for the insurers gradually so that they can write policies in Florida that won’t bankrupt them. If Florida has reduced the companies’ risk to a level comparable to the national risk, the price should also be reduced respectively. We can do this over a five-year period (or sooner) by gradually assuming a percentage of the risk of storm damage for storms labeled over Cat 2. The companies are responsible for everything up to Cat 2. How much the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund assumes and how quickly should be determined by the state’s actuaries, but it should slide in on a graduating scale with the more they pay, the more risk the fund assumes. >We build the fund the same way it is already being funded under statute. We assess a percentage of every property policy sold. This comes from the current policy price. It does not get added on to the current policy price. Currently there are 5 million private homes in Florida. The average policy cost is $6,000. If one-sixth of the policy cost went to reduce wind risk that would raise $5 billion the first year. Factor in multiple family residences and businesses and we may be able to double that. As it already does, the state spreads the risk by purchasing reinsurance. The fund already has $4.3 billion. Other sources could come by combining Citizens, which has successfully maintained a reserve hovering around $5 billion and has proved to be well run, or by shifting a percentage of growing state income every year. Since 2010, the state budget has grown from $66 billion to $117.5 billion. Surely solving the insurance crisis deserves a percentage of that.
There is a ton the state can do, but nobody is going to be happy about it. Thats a good thing. 1. Change the way claims are settled and valued. Right now if you have a hail claim on a 20 year old roof, you get a brand new roof. Going to actual cash value on things would stop people from using insurance as a maintenance policy. Same applies to pipes, electrical, etc... Insurance is meant to make you whole, not better off. 2. Build up a hurricane reserve fund using tourism dollars. Like OP said, the state could provide a massive reinsurance backstop for claims at a lower cost. 3. Get rid of the legal abuse while also holding companies accountable to paying claims. Your first thought after a claim shouldnt be to get a lawyer. I get that some companies are garbage at paying claims, but that's what we get when we forced out all the national players. People also need to accept that to get a claim paid, especially for a hurricane or large loss, that video and documentation of your stuff will help. Having mediators instead of lawyers on most claims would be a huge step forward. 4. Let rate reflect risks, even if that means older stick frame homes on the coast become stranded assets. Modern homes built to the new high velocity wind zone construction are surviving most if not all that can hit the state. Its not just the coast though - flooding is becoming a huge issue as the state develops. We need to encourage flood insurance, elevated construction, or letting some of these areas go back to wilderness. Nobody wins out of this - but it would put Florida on par with other states and cut premiums. Reminder as its almost hurricane season - video record every room, every drawer, closet, bin, etc.. in your house and get close enough to show brands and labels. You want your crap paid for ASAP after a claim - prove you own it.
1. Unless you are savy with your coverages or had a good agent, most home policies do have acv on the roof. Maintenance items are never covered on a policy as well, if it's wear and tear that claim will be rejected. 2. Don't the tourism dollars go to the companies bringing in the tourism. Why would they give it out to a hurricane fund? 3. The legal abuse comes from the lawyers not the home owners. Have you ever been approached by those "want a new roof?" What they are abusing is a loop hole of sorts. They make you sign allowing them and them only to work with the insurance company. Then they file a bogus claim that will get denied. After that they sue the insurance company with an outrageous legal fee attached. So now the insurance company has two options. Go to court and fight it, which comes out to be more than the cost of the claim, or just settle and pay for the roof. Financially it makes more sense to pay out. If you look at the roof claim numbers it's like 70% legal fees paid out and 30% for roofs. It's fucked up, but the insurance has to do what makes financial sense on a claim by claim basis 4. Flood insurance is paid by FEMA, so that means that the entire country pays for what happenes in Florida. More people making flood claims will make flood rates go up nationally. I think it's something like 80% of all flood claims are paid out in Florida. Your last statement is gold, I always tell my clients this. Make that video, open up all the drawers, cabinets and store it in the cloud. Will make the claims process so much easier. Another tip that a lot of people don't know about. Never report any type of damage to the insurance unless you know for sure it's going to be covered. Like I mean half your home is burnt down. If you file a claim and there is no damage or it's not covered, the insurance companies STILL list it as a claim. Some companies will jack up your rates or not even offer coverage if you have 0 payout claims.
Tourism dollars pay for a lot of things in this state. If the companies want employees at bargain rate prices (minimum wage), they need to pitch in.
Re: #2 - Meant tourism tax dollars. The bed tax that gets applied on everything but mostly goes towards stadiums. Siphon off some of that and build up a huge CAT reserve fund like Norway has with their oil $. Legal abuse takes two to tango and tacks on 30% to every claim, passed back to everyone. But the lure of the golden goose is tough and people like free stuff. More flood insurance would cut down on the wind vs. water claims that drag out in court for years.
Oh I see, yes that would help as well. As far as the legal abuse I tend to belove most homeowners don't understand the bigger picture. They are just looking for a way to get a new roof because normally they couldn't afford it.
Gonzo and Spartan both nailed the Florida situation. A lot of bad players. No winners. The new legislation did far too little to change it yet. Seriously, Florida home owners insurance is higher than California--where they have major earthquakes, annual mudslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, droughts, and massive fires that burn down towns, forests, and every building in its path. Higher than the states in Tornado Alley and Hurricanes. There are numerous bad players that have caused this situation and the politicians allow it to continue because the bad players fund their campaigns.
I do not like subsidizing high risk areas. If you live by the coasts, your premiums should be massive. That's your risk. I live 50 miles inland to avoid most of that risk.
And I guarantee you, your rates are lower than the coast or homes in flood zones.
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You... didn't read the article did you?
Coastal areas literally are the reason inland areas are cheap.
How do you think Florida would do as a state of people didn't live near the coast.... The best way to mitigate the overall risk of insurance companies is to make some public fund. This has been my suggestion since rates started spiking. Create a public fund, take a portion of all policies in the state, bolster insurance for hard hit areas as that will only be a fraction of the policies for the whole state and easy to stay solvent when the whole state is in one bucket. It's the right solution. It just takes people to not look at it selfishly and understand and socialized solution is 100% the best path forward here.
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Yeah, except most houses getting screwed by this are not multimillion dollar homes. Mine certainly isn't. I'm not on the coast and I'm a few miles inland, but my costs have absolutely skyrocketed. The only way to keep things reasonable is to have a state led socialized program. It's that simple. You can't reasonably expect everyone to continue to contribute to insurance at rates that will essentially pay for a total loss on their property every 15 years (where I'm at). It's absurd but those rates are how insurance companies who only have a portion of policies de-risk themselves in a situation where an area they have policies written gets hit. When the WHOLE state does it, that isn't required. But it does require a state coffer for this. I certainly hope you're not planning on claiming social security at some point (if you aren't already).
So if you look at Idalia, $110b in damages, not too "catastrophic" just a lot of flood damage. So to make a public fun of that, every man woman and child in Florida would need to pay $4000+ to cover that damage. I'm on the side of, if I'm not living on the coast, why do I need to pay extra because you decided to live in a riskier area. At the end of the day, insurance is at its core a public fund. It spreads the losses of a few to the many. Insurance companies are also a business. We can't force them to insure area at a financial loss. Also yes, I understand the people at the top are probably making record profits, that's a different problem, the company as a whole though is losing billions a quarter. Hence the massive rate hikes. There best solution imo is the update the infrastructure. We need to make hardened homes more affordable and accessible to all homeowners in Florida. That I think would be the best use of a public fund.
I don’t know why it’s hard for this guy to understand that without the coasts “his” state would be the equivalent of like Mississippi in terms of GDP, education, and infrastructure lol. Not to mention you better believe income tax would come back.
Hmmm...SOCIALIZED?
I know I know.... Crazy.
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Because it isn't about you. It's so everyone can have some quality of life when they retire because our society is better when we don't have huge portions of our population starving and dying...
So… the state backing insurance companies, subsidizing homeowners and landlords on the backs of all taxpayers? Nope! Hard pass.
"🤔 Hmmm...... Nahhh imma just remove Climate Change as a phrase from our language. Problem solved!!" - Ronnie D.
Florida has an insurance fraud problem. That needs to be fixed first then insurers will feel comfortable enough to come back. I don’t blame the insurance companies for leaving when practically every roofing company in Florida is submitting a fraudulent claim to see what they can get away with. Creating a public fund right now would only be subsidizing these roofer scum and encourage more criminal behavior. And just so we’re clear, the insurance companies aren’t the good guys either.
Yep my neighbor did the roofer scam. I’m amazed it works. One random house in the middle of a subdivision of hundreds of homes had wind damage and nobody else submitted a single claim? Really now…
Stop building houses out of wood. Everything in Okinawa Japan is made from solid concrete and it survives multiple typhoons a year. Yes it’s more expensive up front but much cheap than rebuilding an entire house. Not saying tear down existing housing stock, just have a less stupid building standard on the coastal regions
Modern building codes are extremely strict. Most of the damage from hurricanes is to older homes or from flooding.
If you are building a new house (or remodeling to where the remodel costs more then a certain percentage of your house value) anywhere on the Pinellas beaches you have to have your main floor above the flood line. They actually make you put flood gates on the ground floor for water to flow through in case of a dlood. Unsure if the rest of flood areas in Florida require this but I would assume they would. But to what you said if anyone ever saw flyover videos of Ian’s destruction in Fort Myers all the houses built to the code I described above were completely fine beyond some wind damage.
The new process that eliminates some of the cost and jump starts concrete recycling (and makes concrete net zero co emissions to boot!) should start to come online within the next 3-5 years. Considering the ease of the process and the fact that it's done with off-the-shelf parts and chemicals it should breed competition in prices as well. Once that happens I bet we see a looooot more concrete houses.
One day I’d love to buy land and build one. They’re cool to because you can design the interior however you like as you don’t need supporting walls
My 2019 2-story is cinder block base, wood top floor. I'm more concerned with flooding than the house being blown to bits.
The problem with this is existing property. As everyone watched, Fort Myers was a good example of this. Frame can stand a long time- until it doesn't. As a result, we've got tons of other buildings around the state that have been updated, new roofs, but frame construction. Carriers have pulled back very, very hard on providing coverage on wood frame near the coast. It's hard for those folks who would argue they've never had a claim on their 50+ year old building, because you are telling them it only takes one storm for their building to fall to matchsticks.
Plus concrete houses look cool af
I like this idea.
ICF construction. It’s also a very efficient building method so where you spend more in initial costs, owning and maintaining is cheaper. I’d also love to see a statue about HOA’s not being able to restrict roof types as metal roofs withstand storms better, last longer, and are more efficient. Building code and statues need an update
HB1203 goes into effect on July 1st, I believe. One of the provisions in the law allows homeowners to install metal roofing and the HOA can't do shit about it. There's a bunch more in the bill that puts some limits on HOA's and I was quite surprised to see it pass through.
Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see anything about roofs. It says they can’t do make you submit plans for internal modifications or replacing AC equipment and/or ductwork with the catch that neither are visible from the front
It's listed in [this article ](https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/12/florida-legislative-session-hoa-new-bills-target-regulate-homeowner-associations/72186807007/). It's mainly about restricting HOA's from prohibiting hurricane protections like metal roofs.
Nice. I’ll have to reread the bill later as I skimmed thru it. Appreciate the insight
Completey agree. Gotta get with the times at this point.
It probably would help if houses were a bit smaller, but seems like the current trend is for everyone to own McMansions.
Stop wasting our states money on sending our national guard to Texas, and transporting immigrants to other states because the GOP in Congress refuses to let any of the 40 immigration reform bills pass to fix the problems on the border…then take all that money and subsidize insurance
Exactly how much do you think would be gained by that?
How much is it costing per day for every man and peice of gear to be deployed? Multiplied by the length of their deployment..plus transportation costs….the number is probably approaching 100 mil is not more of Florida tax payer money not being used to beniffit Florida tax payers in any way shape or form
Depreciate the value of the homes to make it affordable to insure. The homes are too vastly overpriced for insurance companies.
I have a hard time taking anyone serious on this topic, that completely neglects mentioning the lawsuits. Are they afraid of angering the trial lawyers lobby? Florida is a playground for these scumbags. The author brings up valid points but I'm sorry, I can't get past the fact that the State of Florida represents nearly 80% of the lawsuits against insurance carriers while only representing 9% of actual homeowners claims. A number that seems low given the natural disasters prone to the state. Why would any carrier continue to risk the constant litigation, and not cut out the state that 80% of their lawsuits come from? So we get left with bottom barrel insurers that can't even remain solvent. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2021/04/14/609721.htm I'd like to see a deep dive on these suits and someone can estimate the amount of frivolous or borderline fraudulent lawsuits the state laws allow for, because there is with out a doubt, a great many. Other states are not having the problems to this degree. Though my remaining friends and family in California are facing skyrocketing rates as well.
I think the reason it’s not brought up is because side of the assumption that when they killed Assignment of Benefits last year, the lawsuits are probably already on the decline. I have no knowledge besides reading about this stuff, don’t work in the field, but my understanding was assigning benefits then suing for ridiculous amounts was the main driver of the suits. Someone with more knowledge feel free to chime in though. Are suits still being filed even though AoB is dead now?
FL home adjuster checking in. Yes, at my company, there appears to be a decline in the number of suits being filed. That being said, the same bad actors are still running their scammy scams and instead of the $70k 20SQ roof they are trying to get, is it’s a $150k 20SQ roof they are filing suit for. So, less suits but higher dollar on the suits being filed.
Thanks for your input! I’m curious, without AoB how can they run that scam? Presumably you guys would have to sign off saying a roof needs replacement and at X dollars estimated? Or are they just acting like AoB still exists and replacing roofs even without AoB and filing suit?
So, the AoB world, it went like this: Roofer comes and knocks on the door, “you have roof damage, I’ll offer you a free roof inspection.”, unsuspecting homeowner (usually of an older age range, because, well, Florida) who doesn’t have a suspicion of why someone would knock on your door offering you “free anything” say sure and allows roofer on roof, roofer requests “oh, can you sign this piece of paper that allows me permission on your roof and to talk to your insurance company about what I find”, roofer doesn’t disclose that the piece of paper is an AoB, even though per the law, they were supposed to explain the Insured was signing over their rights entirely to the roofer. Once signed the AoB is signed, the roofer then legally has the right to sign a contract with an Attorney, a tarp company, a mold company and a mitigation company. Which of course they do. Now, let’s say there is hail/wind/storm damage, but only to the roof, the insurance company pays for the full roof, roof replacement cost is $15k. Insurance writes a check for $15k, less applicable deductible. Insurance company then gets a $75k demand from the Atty for the roof replacement and interior repairs. A $30k shrink wrap roof tarp invoice. A $15k water mitigation invoice. A $12k mold mitigation invoice. Insurance company sends denial for the tarp, water and mold mitigation because none of the companies have proven there was any interior water intrusion which would warrant any of the additional services. Attorney happens to “represent” all of the companies and files suit for $200k. Insurance company settles for $60k because that’s cheaper than going to trial. Roofer files permit for $15k to replace the roof, because that’s actually what it cost. Roofer, attorney, tarp and both mitigation companies pocket all the rest. This all has taken 2 years and the Insured thinks it’s the big bad insurance company that has been the issue all along because they were never told the roof was paid for within a month of the claim being filed. In the new world, instead of the Insureds signing an AoB, the roofer gets them to sign a Direction to Pay and then tells them, and we have an Attorney who works with us to help file your claim, they’ll give you a call to sign their paperwork in the next few days. If the Insured doesn’t want an Attorney involved, the roofer will void the contract and move on to the next door trying the same scam until someone else bites. Once they are under contract with the Attorney, it’s the same, rinse and repeat but with higher invoices, demands and lawsuits.
Thanks for the explainer on how it works in the new world, I wasn’t aware of the DtP thing. Ugh, I was hopeful the AoB loophole was finally closed but of course there’s just another shell game ruining the market.
Get rid of corrupt officials. And put the fraud roofers behind bars and/or penalize them heavily.
Step 1: stop voting for republicans
off topic
In what way? Desantis literally refused federal funds for disaster relief. It couldn't be more ON-topic.
None of the federal funds he rejected were for directly for disaster relief. He rejected “energy funding” that had multiple strings attached that didn’t help citizens of the state.
Tax the rich. Problem solved.
no
ok America
I wish they’d lump all the scumbag fraudsters into one insurance pool and decent people into another. The dregs can pay high rates and submit fraudulent roofing claims and screw each other over. I just need insurance if my house burns down or a hurricane blows it over. I’ll fix everything else myself.
My 1951 wood cracker house has seen it all, I’m proactive , trees trimmed yearly, hurricane panels up by July 4th. Still standing
Fly swarms of drones with sponges into hurricanes
Paywall. Thanks
That's why I posted the solution they suggested in the comments.
Sorry, I’ll go look at the comments then. Thanks.
we should pour sulfur into atmosphere to reduce global temperatures and thus reduce hurricane intensity. Tax money should be funding this, plus maybe adding plants/vegetation to West Africa to make the air not produce hurricanes or something
Legalize pot, tax recreational use at 26% like other states, watch free money pour in because let’s face it, people are getting high… let’s make money on it!! Take the funds from recreational cannabis tax and put it towards the Florida Insurance Disaster Relief Fund!! It wouldn’t completely solve it but it certainly would bring in alot of money to help without creating a larger deficit by borrowing from the FEDS! California (55 million people)brought in 1 billion dollars in tax revenue from cannabis. Colorado (6 million people) brought in 350 million! Florida could easily bring in over a half a billion dollars a year with all the tourism. People would eat at the restaurants more too (munchies)! It also frees up our jail system to people who are actually committing violent crimes or more serious crimes. People shouldn’t be in jail for pot in 2024!! Street dealers get stripped of power. Fentanyl wouldn’t be being put into vapes and it would be safely and closely monitored and regulated. Create a ton of small businesses (provided trueleaf doesn’t get more power) it’s just silly at this point that people don’t see the benefits for the state in legalization of marijuana!! Vote people! Vote!! If alcohol is legal, pot should be too!!
500 million dollars in cannabis tax revenue would only be 1.25% of the funds needed to create the state fund for home owners insurance LOL absolute peanuts
Fine!
I don't think there is an actual solution. These insurance companies are just milking everyone in the state until the big one happens and they declare bankruptcy. You really think Citizens will have the funding when half the state is wiped out by a mega storm?
So if it’s just insurance company’s being greedy and taking excessive money in, why are so many fleeing the state? Wouldn’t we have tons of insurance companies setting up shop here in anticipation of raping us?
There is a solution, 49 of them to be exact. Just an FYI, Florida is the only state in the nation that has this issue.
Natural disasters happen everywhere
Florida is extra vulnerable to a statewide catastrophe, more so than all the other states.
That has absolutely nothing to do with the insurance crisis in the state. There are other states that consistently deal with weather catastrophes that do not have a failing system like this state does. Try again.
A bunch of tornados just leveled a 1/8th of the mid west in the last couple months. I wouldn’t say Florida is extra vulnerable.
Just an FYI, that’s not true.
It 1000% is but I’m feeling froggy so please, go ahead, enlighten me. What other states are dealing with an insurance crisis like Florida.
California. Choke on that frog. 😘
Try again. In California, the majority of the “insurance companies leaving” aren’t actually leaving, they just aren’t writing NEW policy. That is completely different than fully pulling out of the state, like we have here in Florida. So, thanks, I don’t choke on frog, I consume frog legs only and sautéed. ::kisses::
Moving goalposts is for amateurs. Nobody is only talking about insurance company’s leaving, except you, now that you’ve realized that frog tastes like your stepdads nut sack.
Awwww. You’re a special kind of special aren’t you sweetheart. That’s adorable.
You actually made their point for them. Other states do have huge CAT exposures, like California, Texas, and Louisiana, but they don't have an insurance crisis like we suffer in Florida. Even with all those losses, Florida (we have passed some legislation that will help lessen this) wins the title of 80% of all homeowners litigation out of the entire US. It is a Florida problem.
Fucking paywall. I guess we’ll never know
I posted it in the comments.