State Farm pulls out

[Lindaloo]

Buying back a deductible usually means paying additional premium to have a lower deductible then the standard offered.

So in other words, the insurance companies get their rates raised. Gotcha!

[Lindaloo]

Lindaloo,

Just thought I'd share my experience with MetLife's renewal for this year.. I had MetLife on my old house in Pass Christian before the storm.. I made a claim for Katrina and was only paid for a new roof, since they had engineer reports supporting their claim that water cause most of the damage (i.e. moved my house up the street)..

I stayed with MetLife after the storm, though, and the policy on my new house came up for renewal just recently.. I got the paperwork and started flipping through it, when to my surprise, my premium had actually GONE DOWN $100.. I knew something was up.. So I look at it a little closer and see that my hurricane deductible went from $1000 to $8245 (or 5% of the insured value of the home).. Apparently MetLife did this for every policy in the Southeast and along the East coast.. The strange thing is that there wasn't a letter detailing policy changes like there normally is.. I wonder if they were hoping to just slip it by me..

I was quite upset at the new deductible, seeing as I'd have to have some major structural damage to even make a claim for any hurricane damages.. So I called my agent (Greg English in OS) and got it all straightened out.. In the end, I bumped my deductibles up to $2500 across the board and it lowered my premium about $300 from the previous year's..

So, be prepared for a new 5% hurricane deductible (that can be bought back down though), unless that's what you already had..

Just received my renewal and mine is not lower at all. I am now paying $2003.00 per year! I may as well be in the wind pool. PLUS I have to buy back my deductible and my premium will go up more than that.

[Suzi]

Hope it's Ok to share my experience...Need to vent!
I was thrown into the wind pool after a tree hit my house and caused damage during Hurricane Georges. Next renewal for my homeowners insurance through (company name edited out), wind excluded, hello MWUA. I didn't file a claim through (company name edited) after Katrina due to their exclusions for wind and flood. Everything went through the wind pool and the NFIP. I had major damage to my house, over 4 feet of water inside ( with a slab elevation of 12 ft above sea level and then I am 9 feet up on stilts) plus significant structural damage due to my house being hit by 7 fallen trees. Anyway, my homeowners has cancelled me. Their reason (excuse) given was: No longer under contract to agency. Translation of reason: No longer writing on the coast. I figured my homeowners was my sure thing but NO, cancelled. My agent could only find one company to write me, that being (company name edited). Premium: 1610.00 annually. Naturally, no wind coverage. I have been informed that my MWUA policy is increasing on my renewal date of 7/1 from $1400.00 annually to a whopping $3642.00 annually. I am increasing my flood coverage so that I am not grossly underinsured again in that arena and that will run me about $350.00 a year. Sooooo....approximately $5600.00 a year to insure a 2000 sq foot home. I'm sorry but this is just criminal. Add to this the fact that the insurance on my business went up near 300% and I am truly Insurance poor. I honestly do not know what to do. The Pass is my home.
Heartbroken and Struggling,
Suzi

[HollynLA]

Suzi and Lindaloo, those rates sound good to me actually, atleast compared to what people are paying here who don't live on the coast. I've heard some in NOLA paying 13K per year, some in Slidell paying over 6K per year. Myself for instance, live 45 minutes NW of NOLA, nowhere near a coast, not in a flood zone, never made a claim and my renewal last week was $3400/year. With rates like that, I would assume that those who live right on the coast would be paying much higher than myself. I agree that these rates, regardless are outrageous compared to other parts of the US, it does seem criminal and I'm sure it will cause many people who cannot afford to insure to move elsewhere. Linda, your rates are extremely low and you're in Pascagoula! I would be thrilled with that right now. What i"m worried about is if another storm hits the GOM this year. We already have very limited options for insurance carriers, if another comes, no one will be able to afford insurance.

[Suzi]

It seems at times there is little rhyme or reason to much of this insurance debacle. Some folks are getting royally hammered by premiums, increases, cancellations, others, not so. I have a neighbor across the street from me not paying near what I am now being forced to pay. Then again she is not in the windpool...yet. Her house sits on the ground and she had no waterline. The surge back here was over her roof. Everyone I know though is waiting for the other shoe to fall, it seems just a matter of time.
Very true Hollyn, that worst case scenario of not being able to secure or afford Insurance coverage at ALL. Something needs to be seriously done about this mess. I've gotten to where I dread to go to my mailbox anymore. Never know what's lurking in there.

[Lindaloo]

Suzi and Lindaloo, those rates sound good to me actually, atleast compared to what people are paying here who don't live on the coast. I've heard some in NOLA paying 13K per year, some in Slidell paying over 6K per year. Myself for instance, live 45 minutes NW of NOLA, nowhere near a coast, not in a flood zone, never made a claim and my renewal last week was $3400/year. With rates like that, I would assume that those who live right on the coast would be paying much higher than myself. I agree that these rates, regardless are outrageous compared to other parts of the US, it does seem criminal and I'm sure it will cause many people who cannot afford to insure to move elsewhere. Linda, your rates are extremely low and you're in Pascagoula! I would be thrilled with that right now. What i"m worried about is if another storm hits the GOM this year. We already have very limited options for insurance carriers, if another comes, no one will be able to afford insurance.

Well I hope you get some relief over there Holly. I guess I should be thankful they even renewed my wind and would be having to deal with stuff like Suzi. Something needs to give soon as far as the insurance industry goes. I do believe it is up to each state to fix it and Louisiana should try like we did in Mississippi.

Well, if we do have another storm like Katrina, I hope it takes the entire house this time so I can cut my losses and move to the country. I just found out that if my house burns to the ground I can't rebuild it because they are rezoning my area commercial anyway!

[HollynLA]

Linda, relief doesn't look to be anywhere in sight. If it goes up again, I'm not sure what we'll do, cause we can't afford it anymore. This year, the homeowers went up and our property tax doubled from last year. Between the two, we're paying over $500 per month for insurance and tax. We're not rich and our house is not fancy, not to mention, we're in a rural area. Our options will run out quickly with anymore increases.

[LSU2001]

I bought a 2 year old home in Cut Off La. which is surrounded by levees and is approx. 30 miles north of Port Fourchon La. My homeowners policy through AIG came to a grand total of $4500.00 per year. With the additional assessment fees charged by the state my homeowners/wind and hail is $5700.00 per year. Add in the $1100.00 per year flood insurance and my insurance bill is $6800.00 per year. I know this is high but I knowingly decided to relocate to a high risk coastal area and I knew the price of insurance before I moved. What concerns me about the insurance problems here in Louisiana is the people who had low premiums for years, had no claims from the storms, and still had their rates skyrocket into the thousands of dollars when nothing about their situation had changed.
TIm