The Home Insurance Guru

This started in May and has been and will continue to be under investigation by the office of Insurance Regulation and The Insurance Commissioner’s office(Kevin McCarty). For this 40K policies they removed they have received another 33 Million in cash payouts from Citizens to take them Immediately instead of waiting till the renewal which was always done in the past. Heritage did give Governor Rick Scott and many others some big Campaign Contributions and they in turn had this deal almost slip under the radar, but it was caught.Barry Gilway, the head of Citizens Insurance said this was not intended, but any carrier can do the same deal. Sure they have paid several hundred claims and paid out 2-3 million so far, but they were allowed to Cherry Pick(Underwrite) the policies they wanted. If that was me, I would pick any policy that does not have a current claim pending and has not had a Claim while they were in Citizens so they are less likely to have one. Looks Like Heritage is the winner so far at about 30 million so far plus the premiums from the clients which all take out carriers receive. How will this affect Fort Lauderdale and South Florida, time will tell and the next Hurricane will tell us more about financial solvency. In the meantime, please enjoy the full article below. Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial Coverage and Life Insurance products as well.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2013/09/27/306476.htm

Please read the full story by Tamara Lush as Lee from L and S Insurance the HomeInsuranceGru is interviewed and quoted as well. Tamara is an AP reporter who lives in Pinellas County which will be the worst hit in the country for Flood price increases. Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, and Life Insurance products as well.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/floridians-worried-flood-insurance-rates-20359554#.UkRAgl-opqI.email

So many concerns and we do not know if anyone is listening. The affordability study was never completed as required and it will still not be ready till next year. The head of The Florida Association of Realtors(FAR) spoke to our Florida congress. The director of FEMA does not have the authority to do anything as it is Law and he is following his Job Requirements, and our Florida Congress, and Governor Rick Scott are also asking our State Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio to be involved. Flood Insurance rate Hikes could affect the 20 consecutive months of Real Estate sales Increases which is what we need. I do not think it can be stopped since it has already began. Our clients here at L & S are already receiving bills for higher rates and some policies have to be rewritten for the Month of October with new Flood Elevation certificates. This will be complicated for all and it will also cost more as it should. A lot of people and especially higher end Homes and Incomes will be the most likely hurt. Let’s see what happens as the story continues on. Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial and Life Insurance quotes as well. Please enjoy the full story below.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2013/09/24/306115.htm

The City Commission of tarpon is asking the Government to hold off in this area as so many people could be affected with Flood rates as much as 10 times what they have been paying currently. The hurt to the Tampa bay economy and the Real estate markets in these areas could be devastating. The area has many older homes and the area is almost completely surrounded by water so the risk seems accurate, but now what happens to people and their homes. We will see what happens, but please read the full article below. The article is from the Tampa Bay times and was sent to me by Tamara Lush of the AP. Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, and Life Insurance products as well.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/briefs/tarpon-commission-takes-on-new-flood-insurance-rates/2143294

70% of these are from Fort Lauderdale and S. Florida, but I have been told that another 250K are still to come this year before December. Citizens is really trying hard to get everyone out and soon.8 carriers will be part of this depopulation and more still to come before the Clearinghouse bill helps them cut people off even more than before in January 2014. This will affect Realtors, closings and how everyone does business so be prepared to do what is needed. Please call us at L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, and Life Insurance products as well. Please enjoy the full article below;

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2013/09/22/305923.htm

2 million now per month in defense lawyers fees and law firms to not pay claims. This is big business for an Insurance company that has spoken clearly that the intention is to go out of business. On another Blog of mine many months ago or longer, I posted an article about Citizens Insurance and they now retain 55 Lawyers up from the 17 it had. It appears the situation works better for them to have even more Lawyers now. They make so much not paying that it is a wonder the other main Insurance carriers in Florida have not followed this path, but time will tell. Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial and life Insurance products as well. Please enjoy the full article from the Miami Herald.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/21/3637396/citizens-racks-up-millions-in.html?story_link=email_msg

Citizens Insurance has many property owner’s with what we call DP3 or DP 1 policies(Landlords). They may have always been landlords, or could have lived there and moved away, but there are 180K policies in Citizens like this. There is now a large group that wants them out of Citizens as well. Interesting concept except in most scenarios, we do not have a place to put them with the Private market. If the prices were raised enough to cause private Insurance carriers to write more of these policies, that could help, but what do we do now? Every conversation to help Citizens Insurance is always about Higher premiums. Fort Lauderdale, South Florida and all of Florida will be affected by these changes and the new bill signed by our Governor, Rick Scott, in Tallahassee this past summer will most Importantly affect rates to be much higher for the next 2 years at least. The FEMA issue for Flood Insurance just makes things worse. The Real Estate market will not handle this well and it could affect a big part of our state Income which is Real Estate and Tourism. Please read the full article below and call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial and Life Insurance products as well.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2013/09/18/305555.htm

I have heard Mr. Gilway speak this past week in Broward county and it is very clear that Citizens will find it’s way down to 500K policies in 3 years or less. The expectation is that 500K policies will be removed from Citizens Later this year and next year in 2014, the 450K new policies that will try to come in will be reduced to 50-75K while they still depopulate more and more. The Real question is how will Realtors and closings be affected by this. Once the new Citizens bill takes affect 01/14/2014 Binder’s will not be allowed from Citizens for any policy until the polcy has been shopped. This will not take long, but if a new policy is found at a higher price , the lender information changes and closing delays will be huge. Please read the full article below as it was sent to us by our friends at First Stae Insurance and how this will affect Fort Lauderdale and all of Florida. Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, and Life Insurance quotes as well.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-gilway-sachs-workshop-20130913,0,2850381.story

6.6% statewide average is not so bad, but some will see much more. In Fort Lauderdale and most of S. Florida the increases will be at least 10% and in the hard hit Sinkhole area of Pasco, Pinellas, and Hernando counties, the increases are capped at 20%, but could be less. The bottom line is that for the 4th year in a row prices of Home Insurance will increase significantly and with ease. Our Governor is in his 4th year as well so this is what we expected and what he campaigned about. Did you expect it or understand why? Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes or information about Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial and Life Insurance products as well. PLease enjoy the full arrticle below.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2013/09/11/304811.htm

No explinations and I am ok with that. Fort Lauderdale ,South Florida and most of the hard hit Hurricane areas have had a mellow season so far and we are happy for it. Weather patterns are not in our control, but when they work to our advantage, then life is much easier. So far so good, but keep a close eye as this week marks the actual Peak of Hurricane season now. Please enjoy the full article below and please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Ato, Flood, Business & COmmercial, and Life Insurance products as well.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2013/09/09/304441.htm