Insurance – Different in FL and TX

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The insurance issues in FL are quite different from those in TX. See this article from the NYTimes: Irma May Force Florida Insurers to Turn to Deeper Pockets  

When the storm is over and the streets are safe again, Floridians will be checking what has become of their homes. They may also want to check on their insurers.
The big national carriers like State Farm and Allstate pulled out of Florida’s homeowners’ market years ago, citing catastrophic risks and unhelpful state regulators. Those departures left a vacuum that the state filled, initially, with a state-owned insurer, Citizens Property Insurance. Eventually, the state offered incentives to coax some brave new insurers into the market.

As a result, all that may seem to stand between Florida’s homeowners and potential ruin is one state-owned insurer and dozens of relatively little-known companies that do all or most of their business in the state. They all have the benefit of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which, with no major storms in the past 12 years, has $17 billion at the ready — a sum that may not be nearly enough.

Information Request

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The Diva is thinking about starting another blog/website that would provide information to staff and volunteers from non-governmental and voluntary agencies who will be going into the field to help hurricane victims with recovery tasks. (This site tends to focus on those with governmental or other organizational responsibilities for recovery.)

Your feedback as to the need and value of such a site would be appreciated. And offers from potential sponsors are invited.

 

Failure to Enforce Flood Ins. Rules

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The issue of insurance, who does or does not have it, and what authorities do to enforce the requirement is a really big issue right now. And with the NFIP due to expire this month unless reauthorized, let’s hope the key decision makers are paying attention.

From Bloomberg News: Hurricanes Highlight Failure to Enforce Flood Insurance Rules. “Government-backed mortgage holders in high-risk areas are required to maintain a policy. But federal agencies are playing “not it” over who has to hold them accountable.”

Insurance Issues for Mobile Home Owners

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Sometimes it is hard to be sympathetic when an obvious action, like fortifying a trailer or buying insurance, could have spared a home owner a major loss and hardship. See this article: Florida has 828,000 mobile homes. Less than a third were built to survive a hurricane.  The article points out that not only are most not hurricane-proof, but also half are not insured.

Florida has more mobile homes than any other state — about 828,000, said Patti Boerger, spokeswoman for the Manufactured Housing Institute, a national trade group. Roughly 600,000 are older models, meaning: They were not constructed to withstand hurricane-level winds.

Only half of the state’s mobile homes, meanwhile, are insured, said Jim Ayotte, executive director of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association.

In response to two comments, the Diva now knows that some owners have financial limitations that keep them from fixing a risky living situation. She thanks the two men who commented on this piece in its original form. 

Update:  On Sept. 13, this piece on the same topic from the WSJ: After Irma, Many Mobile Homeowners May Face Tough Choice. About half the mobile homes in Florida don’t have insurance, leaving owners with few options after any major damage