Blog Somebody

Yesterday a new Bill was passed that may help me to get a slightly better rate next time I renew my insurance, but I still think that a lot more needs to be done.

So here is an email I sent to the Governer. I still have not received a response, but I know they have been busy over the last week or so.

Dear Governor Crist:

I understand that you are really trying to help reduce insurance rates in Florida and I would like to thank you in advance for that.
Now I would like to know if this will be something that we will see as some kind of refund from our current insurance premiums which have doubled since last year,
Or will this be an effort to prevent further increases. I have noticed that over the past year, almost every neighbor that I speak with has been hit with a premium increase of almost $200 per month. Some of us see this, when our banks do an escrow analysis and that is my case. My bank is asking me to pay an extra $2000 toward by escrow Balance and then my payment will still go up by $150 per month.  I really cannot afford this and my wife is ready to sell out house and wants us to move to Georgia.

We may all have to move to another state:
I also want you to know that 3 other families from my wives side are all planning to do the same. They all want to move to Georgia. There must be a better answer. If too many people begin to leave Florida, that may Hurt the economy even more.
So now having said this, I would like you to consider this:

Solutions:

1) Reward those who have Solid Houses and those who do not file claims:
I live in a community called Venezia Lakes. The Zip code is 33186 My house was built in 2001 by Carribe Home builders.My house is of solid reinforced concrete construction. The roof is of Barrel Tile, I have shutters and I do use them.

2) Crack down and Punish Scammers:
I am very sad when I am invited to a party and I here people brag about how they became rich Thanks to Hurricane Andrew, of Wilma.
These people should be punished and not rewarded. Those same people try to tell me that I am a fool because I should have filed a claim last year.
When Hurricane Wilma hit last year, we did not suffer any damages. We may have lost one or 2 roof tiles, but that is it. If any of my neighbors filed claims, believe me they are fraudsters. The houses in my community are built very strong and up to code.

I am very certain that one of the main reasons that insurance is so expensive is because there is a lot of fraud and exaggeration whenever we get a storm.
I also know that if you created a law that punishes people for filing claims and rewards those of us who do not, would be of great assistance.
I never files any claims and I would not unless my house was really destroyed. I know that only a tornado could do that. But the odds of a tornado are less than that of a Hurricane. Let us make those people who scammed Andrew, Katrina and Wilma
Be the ones who should move to another state.

3) Let us pay a higher wind deductible!
I am willing to pay a much higher wind deductible if only I could see my insurance premium reduces, to where I can afford it.

4) Reevaluate the “East of US1“, barrier:
There are many parts of South Florida, especially Homestead, where US1 is much further from the coast. The houses are brand new and solid, yet we cannot get windstorm insurance there. This is going to have a negative effect on the home values if something is not done. Why can’t the barrior be based upon how many mile from the coast you live, versus using a highway that is inconsistent.

Please let me know if you can share any simular stories or comments about this topic.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, Taxes, insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.