Flood Insurance: 30 day waiting period

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MGC
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Flood Insurance: 30 day waiting period

#1 Postby MGC » Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:25 am

Decided to buy flood insurance on the house in Pass Christian today (Friday). It cost me only 248.00. Since we were nearly flooded by Katrina and since much of the buffer (homes) are gone, the GOM has a much easier path to my door. My agent told me the flood insurance has a 30 day waiting period along with a 500.00 deductable. I live in flood zone C. It would be worth your while to check the current status of your insurance. Looks like another bad hurricane season in 2006......MGC
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#2 Postby Recurve » Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:23 am

I called an agent last week to increase my flood coverage, and was told I could only do it on the annual renewal date. That is just another in a long series of restrictions I've been told:
-- You can't increase coverage without a recent home appraisal.
-- You can't have different amounts of coverage for wind and flood.
-- You can't have flood insurance without windstorm coverage also.
-- You can't increase the amount of coverage to anything less than the full replacement value (regardless of the mortgage balance).
-- You can't actually insure for full replacement value because the appraisal shows the depreciated value of your house.
-- You can't purchase homeowner's insurance that includes wind coverage (here -- other regions are different).
-- You can't get windstorm coverate from any company other than the state-sponsored insurance pool (Florida).

If I think of any others I'll post them.
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SouthFloridawx
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#3 Postby SouthFloridawx » Sun Apr 30, 2006 1:14 pm

Recurve wrote:I called an agent last week to increase my flood coverage, and was told I could only do it on the annual renewal date. That is just another in a long series of restrictions I've been told:
-- You can't increase coverage without a recent home appraisal.
-- You can't have different amounts of coverage for wind and flood.
-- You can't have flood insurance without windstorm coverage also.
-- You can't increase the amount of coverage to anything less than the full replacement value (regardless of the mortgage balance).
-- You can't actually insure for full replacement value because the appraisal shows the depreciated value of your house.
-- You can't purchase homeowner's insurance that includes wind coverage (here -- other regions are different).
-- You can't get windstorm coverate from any company other than the state-sponsored insurance pool (Florida).

If I think of any others I'll post them.


You need to get an new/current appraisal on your property and give them a copy and they can raise the coverage. If you need a company let me know and I will find you a good one. I live here in palm beach county but, I am in the mortgage industry so I know some people.
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wayoutfront

#4 Postby wayoutfront » Tue May 02, 2006 1:31 am

Recurve wrote:I called an agent last week to increase my flood coverage, and was told I could only do it on the annual renewal date. That is just another in a long series of restrictions I've been told:
-- You can't increase coverage without a recent home appraisal. thats because in florida a house that is totaled is paid policy limits regardless of Insured to Value, for example if you put 200,000 coverage on your 100,000 house. in most of the country you would get 100,000 to rebuild what you had, in FL you would get the policy limits 100,000 to rebuild the house and 100,000 to put in your pocket, the insurance companies have got wise to to the over insuring which is common in FL
-- You can't have different amounts of coverage for wind and flood. why would you only partially insure your home?
-- You can't have flood insurance without windstorm coverage also. huh? you must have a mortgage
-- You can't increase the amount of coverage to anything less than the full replacement value (regardless of the mortgage balance). see above, also if you have a mortgage, you have an obligation to properly insure their risk
-- You can't actually insure for full replacement value because the appraisal shows the depreciated value of your house. wrong
-- You can't purchase homeowner's insurance that includes wind coverage (here -- other regions are different). that because you are in a hurricane high risk area, your wind endorsements are insured by citizens
-- You can't get windstorm coverate from any company other than the state-sponsored insurance pool (Florida). your restating what you said above

If I think of any others I'll post them.


There are several different flood policy's . get the one that properly insures your interest.

visit http://www.floodsmart.gov and http://www.citizensfla.com for more info about these issues.

In many case a homeowners policy has outsourced their high risk wind coverage to citizens because its HIGH RISK
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#5 Postby Recurve » Sun May 07, 2006 12:13 pm

Why would I want different amounts for wind and flood?
--Wind isn't as likely to obliterate my entire house as flood is, perhaps. Thought I'd save some $$ by having a little less wind coverage and full flood coverage. Wind insurance is so expensive now. Full wind coverage will probably cost $4000 a year. Complete, full coverage for an average house in the Keys is now getting close to $8000 a year.

Overinsuring is common in Florida?
--???. No insurance is common in Florida. I had coverage for $60,000. I wanted to increase it to like $100,000. You'd think they'd realize any house in the Florida Keys is worth $100k -- but I do understand the need for an appraisal to prevent fraud.

"You can't purchase homeowner's insurance that includes wind coverage (here -- other regions are different). that because you are in a hurricane high risk area, your wind endorsements are insured by citizens
--People in Miami had/have homeowners policies that included wind coverage. I'm 40 miles away and it hasn't been available here for more than 20 years. Citizen's grew out of the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association, which was originally created just for the Keys, when homeowners insurance companies decided to stop including wind damage here. I don't know for sure that policies in other areas are formulated this way; I know not all of them are.

You can't increase the amount of coverage to anything less than the full replacement value (regardless of the mortgage balance). see above, also if you have a mortgage, you have an obligation to properly insure their risk
--I have more than enough coverage for my mortgage balance. I don't have enough to rebuild the house. But why souldn't I be able to purchase the amount of coverage that I want (assuming more than mortgage balance and less than actual replacement value)?

-- You can't actually insure for full replacement value because the appraisal shows the depreciated value of your house. wrong
OK, now this last comment bothers me. How do you know? Have you been on the phone with multiple insurance agents for policies in the Florida Keys? Do you have my appraisal in your hand, and have you not been refused full replacement coverage? I have. The appraisal shows $203k new building value (just the square footage and current structure I have, not what I'd have to build to meet code). The depreciated value is 140k -- and that is the maximum amount the agents tell me I can insure for. I don't know where you get your information, but it's misleading and a bit rude to label the information I posted "wrong" with no explanation or supporting facts. This whole insurance mess is pretty stressful , you know. Facing another hurricane season in a few weeks, and knowing that even if I do the right thing -- have flood, wind, and homeowners insurance -- if my house gets wiped out, I'll never have enough insurance to build back what I have, unless I'm missing something. According to every agent I've spoken with, I can buy that $140,000 in coverage for my 1200 square foot 45 year old house. Its market value, BTW, is around $400 to $500K. It's assessed for taxes at $275K and would be higher except I had a homestead exemption for 15 years. Its replacement cost is probably $200-$300k (just construction cost) or more to bring it to current code compliance (stilts, aerobic septic system, 155 mph wind engineering, etc). So, all indications are I can't get insurance for more than about half of rebuilding costs, or less than a third of its market value, no matter what I want to pay.
The wild card is how the flood and wind policies will fight it out if we have a major hurricane with surge take everything away. Probably the wind will blow the houses down and the flood will carry the debris to the bayside, and the feds and state will start fighting over the remains.

All this is just to state some facts, maybe alert others to the complex issues and possible problems with making sure they are sufficiently insured. I'm complaining, but I surely know others have it much worse -- I'm not displaced from the Ninth or Holly Beach or Pass Christian, after all.
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wayoutfront

#6 Postby wayoutfront » Sun May 07, 2006 4:39 pm

Not sure which carriers your dealing with, but being in the keys , I would guess citizens\

here is there Homowners Info
http://www.citizensfla.com/agent_portal ... HO_ROP.pdf


and here is the wind/ hail policy
http://www.citizensfla.com/agent_portal ... er_man.asp


and I know because I am an Adjuster, and spent a huge amount time in Dade , Broward, and Palm Beach Counties
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