Florida renewals a “perfect storm” of challenges

Florida renewals a “perfect storm” of challenges, warns Demotech

20th May 2020 – Author: Matt Sheehan

Financial analysis firm Demotech has warned that the Florida reinsurance renewals will bring a myriad of challenges for the market, with COVID-19 issues piling on top of a shortage of retro cover, continued loss creep, and legislative issues.

Even before the pandemic, analysts had anticipated that 2020 would not be business as usual for Florida focused insurers.

Ongoing complications include jurisdictional risk, the competitive position of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, and increases in the cost of catastrophe reinsurance, including the limited interest of those offering catastrophe reinsurance.

“Having been involved in Florida’s residential property insurance marketplace since 1996, our view is that the financial and market-based criteria affecting residential property insurance have never been more difficult to navigate,” Demotech stated.

Changes in business models and operating plans have already been announced by Capitol Preferred Insurance Company, People’s Trust Insurance Company, and Avatar Property and Casualty Insurance Company, and Demotech believes other carriers will respond in a similar manner.

“We have not experienced market conditions like we are seeing this year since 2006,” said Brian O’Neill, Partner-Client Executive at TigerRisk.

“We are a supply and demand economy, and given the shortage of retro cover available (especially low attaching cover), the loss creep from Irma and to some degree Michael, the lack of legislative reforms to fix the one way attorney fee statutes in the state, and then throw in a Global Pandemic – you have a perfect storm hitting the June 1st renewals,” he continued.

“The carriers in the state are truly performing their best to weather this storm. Support from core reinsurance partners will be critical in this environment along with creating unique risk management solutions and raising reinsurance capacity to optimally manage each carrier’s operational and financial needs.”

May 21, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Homeowner's Insurance

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance – #6

The cost of homeowner’s insurance is one of those unavoidable expenses that comes along with owning a house. How much you’ll pay for insurance varies depending on your location and the age of your home. It can feel like a big expense, but knowing you’ll be reimbursed if something happens to your most valuable investment can be priceless. Plus, your mortgage company may require that you keep a certain level of homeowner’s insurance as well.

6^th way to save on your homeowner’s insurance is to shop around every few years. I say this because more then not our home insurance is tied into our mortgage and we just get the bill and pay it not even realizing that our homeowner’s insurance goes up year after year. Every carrier has guidelines that set rates and those can change from year to year. It’s also good to shop it if your agent is not doing that for you. This because lots can happen with the carriers, they could have paid out lots of claims the year before so how are they going to make up for that money they lost? You guessed right! They will up everyone’s insurance premium to overcome that financial loss. Also, other companies could be doing every well and they have a rate decrease of about 10%. That can be a huge difference on your bill. Its important to be with an agent that pays attention to the carriers and the markets he/she writes with. Jones Family Insurance constantly talks with the carriers they write with. We know who is increasing or decreasing rates, why they are doing it, and when they are doing it.

Learn more about us at www.JonesFamilyInsurance.com

Serving North Port, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Cape Coral and Fort Myers Florida

May 7, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Homeowner's Insurance, Uncategorized

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance – #5

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance – #5

The cost of homeowner’s insurance is one of those unavoidable expenses that comes along with owning a house. How much you’ll pay for insurance varies depending on your location and the age of your home. It can feel like a big expense, but knowing you’ll be reimbursed if something happens to your most valuable investment can be priceless.

5^th Check out flood insurance. Always know when purchasing your home if you’re in a flood zone and if you are, know what your Base Flood Elevation (BFE) is. Your BFE will determine the height at which the flood carrier determines your price. If you have equipment in the garage such as hot water heater, make sure it is elevated. We have seen flood polices go 6x the regular price just because a hot water heater sits on the ground. In Charlotte County we are experiencing a flood map change and it is very important to call your agent or us to find out all the ins and outs of this change. The maps haven’t changed here in about 30yrs! Also, even if you are not in a flood zone it is important to get a quote. People think oh my gosh flood insurance is so expensive. Well if you’re not in a flood zone you’re probably looking at about $400-$600 per year to cover your most prize possessions. Just remember one in five flood claims come from homes that are NOT in a flood zone.

Learn more at www.Jonesfamilyins.com

May 4, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Homeowner's Insurance, News

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance #4

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance – #4

The cost of homeowner’s insurance is one of those unavoidable expenses that comes along with owning a house. How much you’ll pay for insurance varies depending on your location and the age of your home. It can feel like a big expense, but knowing you’ll be reimbursed if something happens to your most valuable investment can be priceless. Plus, your mortgage company may require that you keep a certain level of homeowner’s insurance as well. There are typically four parts to a normal homeowner’s policy you’ll see on your quote that you should make your agent explain to you.

4^th — Up your deductible. I say this because typically the lower your deductible the more you will pay for insurance. In our company we like to talk to you the insured to find out about your background and your financial stability. We do not do this to be nosey but like I said before we treat everyone like family and if we know your situation we can fit you with the right deductible that can inevitably save you money on your policy. So when we talk to you about your deductible we talk to you about repairs and what repairs you would be able to pay out of pocket for and which ones you’d need to exercise your policy for.

Contact us at www.JonesFamilyIns.com

April 27, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Homeowner's Insurance

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance – #3

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance

The cost of homeowner’s insurance is one of those unavoidable expenses that comes along with owning a house. How much you’ll pay for insurance varies depending on your location and the age of your home. It can feel like a big expense, but knowing you’ll be reimbursed if something happens to your most valuable investment can be priceless. Plus, your mortgage company may require that you keep a certain level of homeowner’s insurance as well. There are typically four parts to a normal homeowner’s policy you’ll see on your quote that you should make your agent explain to you.

3^rd Make sure you are getting every discount available. Its important to deal with an insurance agent that knows how they can get you all the discounts you qualify for. I’ve personally seen when reviewing quotes other agents have prepared sometimes $300-600 dollars’ worth of savings left on the table and shake my head. Make sure if you’ve upgraded your roof, windows, security systems, smoke detectors, etc you let the agent know too, so they can apply those for you. Jones Family Insurance always has you get a 4pt and Wind Mitigation Loss inspection. The savings you get is way more than the $250 you spent on the report.

Thank You,

Matt Jones, Owner of Jones Family Insurance

April 20, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Homeowner's Insurance

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance – #2

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance, #2, by owner Matt Jones of Jones Family Insurance

“2^nd Make sure your agent talks to you every year if not a couple times a year. Insurance should not just be about writing policies.

With Jones Family Insurance we are a family owned business and we want you the customer to make sure you leave with your policy in hand feeling apart of our family. Its important for us to make sure you understand those thick renewal policies that you get in the mail. We will call you and make an appointment with you to come in so that all your questions are answered. Remember no question is a dumb question!”

April 12, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Homeowner's Insurance

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance with Jones Family Insurance!

1^st way to lower your Homeowners insurance is by doing your homework! Jones Family Insurance works with about 10 different Homeowners companies and every company has their own type of home and situation that they like to insure. I say this because we always run your home if eligible with all our carrier, but we pick the best three to give you quotes on. Its not always about price either. We make sure that the companies we give you quotes for are all A admitted A rated companies through the state of FL.

Get a home owners quote now and save money with Jones Family Insurance.

Offices in Punta Gorda and Fort Myers, Florida. Service provided throughout Southwest Florida: Punta Gorda, Cape Coral, Port Charlotte, Fort Myers, Naples, Estero, Bonita Springs and beyond!

April 8, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Homeowner's Insurance, News

Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance – Part 1

Part 1 — Six Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance

The cost of homeowner’s insurance is one of those unavoidable expenses that comes along with owning a house. How much you’ll pay for insurance varies depending on your location and the age of your home. It can feel like a big expense, but knowing you’ll be reimbursed if something happens to your most valuable investment can be priceless. Plus, your mortgage company may require that you keep a certain level of homeowner’s insurance as well. There are typically four parts to a normal homeowner’s policy you’ll see on your quote that you should make your agent explain to you. Those coverages are:

Dwelling– This covers damage to the house itself. This covers the rebuild of the home from the slab up in the even of a loss due to fire or any other disaster that make it impossible to salvage the house. Lots of homeowners think the numbers that agents quote their dwelling at is a lot and we are trying to make more money. When reality 20% of average Americans homes are underinsured. From Talking to different contractors, it cost about $150-$200 x Sqft to build a house. This means when Jones Family is trying to find out your dwelling coverage depend on the grade of the house we multiply the under air sqft and multiple by it anywhere between $150-$200, the number we get is the number we insure your dwelling for.

Click here for a no obligation, fast Homeowners Quote!

April 6, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Flood Insurance, News

Flood Insurance with Matt Jones

Wind Mitigation Inspection Reports

The state of Florida requires insurance companies to offer discounts to homeowners who protect their homes against damage caused by windstorms. The discounts are offered after a certified inspection is done on your home. Your insurance company or lender do not mandate wind mitigation inspections. These inspections, unlike mandated four-point inspections, are entirely optional.

While optional, wind mitigation inspections can result in savings that cover the cost of the $75 inspection, so it makes sense to have it done. You can never be penalized for having safety features, so your premiums can only go down, not up. The wind mitigation credit is good for 5 years. After five years, a new inspection will be required to ensure you qualify for the credits based on new forms submitted by the Office of Insurance Regulation.

Wind Mitigation Inspectors Examine These Key Safety Features:

A certified inspector will look for specific factors in your home that would make it more resilient to becoming damaged in a windstorm. The inspector will look at the roof, doors, and windows specifically.

Roof Shape
Roof Bracing of Gable End
Roof Deck Attachment
Roof Covering
Roof-to-Wall Connections
Secondary Water Resistance
Doors
Protection of Openings (windows and other openings)

The current features of your home will be evaluated to determine how wind resilient it is. Homes in Florida with constructed after 2002, were built to certain safety codes and will most likely save you money. Homes built before 2002 with roofs replaced after 2002 should still have a wind mitigation inspection since some of the roof’s features may qualify for discounts.

You can take steps to safeguard your home and reduce your hurricane-wind premium with a few cost-effective measures; secure your roof with hurricane clips, hurricane-proof your windows, openings, and garage doors with protective wind impact-resistant glass.

Learn more about us at www.JonesFamilyInsurance.com

March 17, 2020/by Morgan Timko

Posts