The Home Insurance Guru

Not the top 5 list you want to make, but Fraud is Fraud and they do call  us the Gold Coast! Car Insurance and Home Insurance claims make us the worst and I am sure Public Adjustor claims have made this worse by far. Auto claims and PIP Fraud have always been a problem for Florida and the new PIP Fraud Bill never even came to a real vote this session and next year is also not likely! Please enjoy the article from The Orlando  Sentinal  and read how  we have been in this list since 2008 and continue to be real bad. Please call L & S for all Insurance quotes w/ Flood, business and Commercial Insurance  and Life Insurance as well.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/fl-questionable-insurance-claims-20110629,0,2845813.story

These increases will be a State wide average of 34% which will be huge for S. Florida as the numbers are usually double that number here?? The company Castle Key Insurance  is the carrier which used to be Allstate Floridian. They took a normal increase last year, but this one will be almost triple the last one and on top of it of couse.  The increases should come soon and of course during  Hurricane season the toughest time to shop for a new policy at better rates.Please call L & S Insurance for all of your Home, Flood, Auto, Business and commercial and Flood  quotes as well as life Insurance.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2011/06/28/204293.htm

No new news here, just the facts on Home Insurance, Governor Christ, Governor Rick Scott, the Florida Legislative body and all of the things Florida tries to do and fails all the time. Please read the full article from The Sun Sentinal  to help explain why Home Insurance is so bad here in Florida. Please call L & S INsurance for all of your Home, Auto, Commercial and business Insurance and Life Insurance as well.

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/consumerblog/2011/06/28/florida-again-rates-an-f-for-home-insurance/

Please read up on the inside opinion of the Property Insurance reform bill that just passed and wa signed by Governor Rick Scott  from the perspective of the Insurance association FAIA. It is clear that prices are going up and this seems to be necessary, but the Citizens Insurance bill never even made it to a vote so how will this impact the industry until it does come to a vote? Jeff  Grady is Very candid on several issues and the reading is good and worth it. This is all while we are in Hurricane season and Insurance carriers are still dropping People, Argus Insurance is still in the process of being shut down and Insurance markets are harder to find While Citizens Insurance seems to still be the company of choice by price at least.Let’s hope the Legislators in Tall. start to   realize that the Citizens bill needs to pass or a special assessment will be necessary to help keep people out of Citizen  where and when possible.Please call L & S for a free quoyte on Home, Auto, Commercial and Flood Insurance as wee and enjoy the article below;

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2011/06/23/203733.htm

With a current 99% collection rate history this surchage system will guarantee that Florida will be able to handle Hurricane season w/ more than 1  storm if necessary.Governor Rick Scott seems to be in favor of this since he wants Citizens to be the last place people should be going for their insurance. Under new laws, no one can avaoid this surcharge once it has been imposed. The only question would be how long does everyone have to pay since many do not have the funds to pay all at once. The Governor wants Citizens to shrink in size and go away, but last month it grew by a net 40K policies  so obviously his theory is already not working. Working closely w/ clients for their Insurance needs, Home, Flood and Auto alike let’s me know that I believe this charge will definitly come, but we are not sure how bad it will be or what the reaction will be as it cannot be taken well. We do advise our clients of things like this, but even then some still want to go w/ current price even knowing it could bounce back  at them. Please read the full article and please call L & S for all your Insurance quotes.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2011/06/17/202971.htm

Everyone likes to search the Home  Insurance quotes  based on price and they do not seem to care about coverage’s.Agents who only sell Citizens w/ no other carriers never tell people the true story either and State Farm agents are very guilty of this. Most people are not told about the ability of Citizens Insurance to charge 15% from each of the 3  Citizens Carriers at any time for any financial reason. If a Hurricane comes, not only will you have your 2% deductable to worry about and getting a differant carrier will be nearly impossible as well. You also have to deal w/ a surcharge that could be 3 times what the article here is talking about.Once this surcharge hits you, you can never walk away form it like before because the new Property Insurance Bill just signed by Governor Rick Scott insurs that Citizens Insurance collects it’s fees. This power was given to them by the Legislators in Tall. as well as the OIR and the Insurance commissioner. Most of the people on the board of Citizens are not even experienced in the industry so they have no real working knowledge as to why things  happen. Please read the full article by Julie Patel of the Sun Sentinal and please call L & S Insurance for all of your Home, Auto, Flood, Commercial and Life Insurance busienss.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2011/06/citizens_policyholders_could_e_1.html

Great news for nearly 800 homeowners who have been unable to do much w/ their homes. Lot’s of legal issues here that took so long to get resolved as you would expect w/ lawyers, but the end results will finally payoff.Please read the full article on the Drywall issues and remember to contact us at L & S Insurance for all your Home Insurance, Flood, Auto or business and commercial policies and Life Insurance as well.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2011/06/14/202555.htm

This article by Paige St John of the Bradenton Herald just confirms what we have been seeing and hearing. Governor Rick Scott has signed Floridians up for major rate Home Insurance rate  hikes and Senator Fasano has been  fighting a loosing battle to try and stop this or slow it down. All we wait for now is the Citizens Insurance bill. If this happens then the Insurance companies will be  making tons of money. If the bill is not passed then Citizens Insurance  could double in size next year as they may be the best priced company which is scary to have a company run by the State and backed by the Florida tax payer’s be the cheapest in the Florida market place. This makes no sense to me, but neither does the Governor and what he is trying to do??? Please call L & S  Insurance for Home, Flood, Auto, Commercial and Life Insurance quotes and please read the article below;

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110611/ARTICLE/110619875/2416/NEWS?Title=Property-insurers-seeking-major-rate-increases

HomeWise Insurance and First Home Insurance are now completely merged and they are stabile w/ the OIR, CFO’s office, The Insurance commissioner,and all Legislators in Tallahassee as they have maintained the A  rating w/ Demotech and are now a stronger carrier. The Financial reserves are now at 25 million which is nearly double the State requirement and should keep them Healthy moving forward.Since the Re-Insurance package is also now complete the company is set and safe under the Homewise name for Hurricane season which is already under way. Since L & S Insurance is ana agent  of Homewise we are still writing policies w/ them and many other carriers so please call us for you Home Insurance, Auto Insurance, Flood Insurance and commercial business as well. Please enjot the complete article below;

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2011/06/08/201813.htm

This depends on who you ask and the answer is not really known. Many feel that Forida has given the insurance companies everything they want. They now have higher premiums and they can pass along rate hikes from re-insurer’s on top of  normal 15% rate hikes and they will now pay less on many claims including Sink Hole coverage and replacement cost may not get used by many. All this to make the Insurance carriers happy, but we still have a limited product w/ incredibly high prices and the consumer paying so much  more for Insurance and our Florida economy still sucks on a good day. We see signs of hope w/ Real Estate starting to move, but this is still a bad time for many and this can cause many to not buy a home or the  home they wanted. Some carriers need to step up to the plate and start offering policies to older homes or homes w/ older roofs because many of these people are stuck and f they already own the home, they are  not likely to be able to leave without issues because of property values. Please read this new article and see what you think. Please call L & S Insurance for all of your Home, Auto, Business, Flood, Commercial and life Insurance policies.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2011/06/07/201472.htm