Best Laid Plans....Florida version

[lazygood4nothinbum]

You're betting that you'll be more fortunate than your risk-pool peers (or at least your neighbors) and if you "lose" then at least they'll bail you out with more money than you paid into the system.

yup, and i make the same bet when i buy healthcare insurance.

i just wonder about the difference between paying into citizen's insurance which forces me to pay higher premiums than the highest charged by private companies (though now, through a loophole, private companies can go even higher) and paying into a monopolistic state run pool covering the entire population which maybe some reinsurer might like to have a piece of.

granted,i'm not a business guy & i'm just now learning about finance. but wouldn't this be similar to, say, pharmaceuticals having to negotiate directly with all medicare recipients as a united group? wouldn't this bring the cost down? would a united florida market give the homeowner more negotiating leverage?

The only way to stay ahead of health insurance costs is to own the stocks of the industry.  The only way to stay ahead of insurance rates is to own the insurers... I'd start with Berkshire Hathaway, who's reporting their quarterly profits Friday night.

ya, i got that. and now that you mention it, i recall it's only when i saw my company stock appreciating greater than my salary that i first started considering retirement.

 

[farmerEd]

This will help the FL insurance rate-payers....(not)

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060803-023835-1557r

 

[bpp]

Just curious, are newer houses in Florida designed to handle hurricane-force winds? Like Guam, where concrete is heavily used.

 

[spideyrdpd]

Well be glad you can get insurance. On the first rental I bought I went down to the wire. Almost had to extend the closing.

They have adjusted building codes as things have progressed. My house is cinderblock for the first level and then the windows on the second level are impact resisitant. Shutters are now part of the code. Many people here got new roofs from either fema or their insurance. All though many roofs still arent finished!! Unfortunately I had already replaced my roof which held up fine with the hurricaine. Before Andrew the roofs didnt need as many nails. Which I guess helped mine stay put.
Not sure what else has changed.

 

[bpp]

Then maybe the insurance rates will go down as the building codes tighten up?

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Then maybe the insurance rates will go down as the building codes tighten up?

south florida probably had stricter building codes than most of the country even before andrew. these were then further tightened in scope and expanded in area since then. most of our structures are actually quite well built, even those built in the 20s through 40s when florida pioneers learned more about hurricanes from experience than from weather reports.

i'm in a 1942 dade county pine cottage which has survived numerous direct hits from hurricanes. but even this structure would not survive a 60 foot tall tree falling on it or a tornado spinning within a hurricane.

we can get some reduction in insurance rates through hardening our houses (impact windows, shutters, etc.) but the savings are more window dressing than actually significant.

following from today's local newspaper sun-sentinel:

http://tinyurl.com/noprq

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ABOUT HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE
With Kathy Bushouse
Tuesday, August 8 at 1 p.m.

Kathy Bushouse, the Sun-Sentinel's property insurance writer, will address your general questions about Florida's growing property insurance crisis during a live Q&A session.

To participate fill out the following form and submit your question. If yours is selected, it will be posted directly below the following form along with Kathy's answer.