Please call  Lee from  USAsurance Powered by WeInsure & Calle Financial. 954-270-7966 or 833-USAssure at the office. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com . I am Your Insurance Consultant  about Home Insurance, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Car, Life Insurance, Mortgage protection, Financial Products, Business  & Commercial Policies, & Group Products for business owners to give Employees benefits at no cost to the employer. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com

Denny Pewsey said he paid $10,000 to put a new roof on his Orange County home.Sign up for our Newsletters

“They said they weren’t going to renew my insurance because of the age of the roof, which was only 19 years old,” Pewsey said.

His home insurance costs have been going up. His home insurance now costs $3,200.

“I think now, a couple of years ago, it was about $1,800. I thought that was very high,” Pewsey said.

Pewsey isn’t the only one facing high home insurance costs. Earlier this year, the Office of Insurance Regulation said that solicitation appears to be what’s bringing the cost up.

“This isn’t a consumer noticing they’ve got a leak, this isn’t a consumer having a tree hit their roof, this is somebody who saw an advertisement. (In this case someone) had

something hung on their door that says if you give me a call, I’ll get you a new roof through your insurance company,” said David Altmaier, during a hearing held in January 2021.

It’s part of the reason why Republican Sen. Jim Boyd introduced Senate Bill 76, which just passed 27 to 13.

Part of it could impact your roof coverage. If your roof is under 10 years old and gets damaged, you could have full replacement coverage.

However, after 10 years the reimbursement amount would change. Your insurance would cover 70% for a metal roof, 40% for concrete or tile roofs and the same amount for wood shingles. All other roof types would be 25%.

“It would never go below that,” Boyd said. “The point is, year 11, you wouldn’t see a dramatic reduction in your coverage. It would stair step down based on the life expectancy of that roof.”

Boyd says it’ll eventually lead to lower rates.

“What’s the hope for a timeline for things to even out? Because it’s still going to be rough for the short term for a lot of people,” WESH 2’s Sheldon Dutes asked.

“Sadly, it will be, and I understand that, and sympathize very much with that. It will probably take a year or 18 months for rates to start to see the impact,” Boyd said.

“I think it could help to some degree, but I doubt it’s going to solve the problem. The problem isn’t with that, it’s with these fraudulent claims soliciting to get the insurance to pay for things they shouldn’t be paying for,” Pewsey said.

Pewsey is hopeful, though.

“It would be nice to see the rates come down. I’ve never seen it happen yet. I’ve seen them go up, up but very rarely, do they go down,” Pewsey said.

The House is working on a similar bill that could impact property insurance coverage. They’re set to vote on their version next week.

Advertisement