Tips for Lowering Homeowners Insurance Premiums During Florida’s Homeowners Insurance Crisis

Increase your deductible!

Raising your deductible can make a big difference to your homeowners insurance premium. We have seen the premiums cut in half when taking the maximum deductibles for both wind and other events.

It means the policy is only good in catastrophic circumstances, but people are using the following reasoning: if a hurricane hits, the damage will be catastrophic anyway.

Some are confident that, in the event of a storm evacuation, they will leave all windows and doors open in order to collect on the homeowner’s insurance policy.

Change your property policy from Replacement Value to Actual Cash Value (ACV)

Citizens calculates the replacement value of your property by halving the value of your home. So if you have a $ 600,000 home, they assume you have $ 300,000 worth of assets in it. What I did to lower my premium was to specify that I wanted an actual cash value rather than a replacement value in the event of a loss and subsequent claim. A gamble, but in this Florida insurance monopoly it was one of the ways to lower the premium, as well as specifying an outrageous deductible on the homeowner’s policy (HO).

Look for insurance brokers

You’ll want to shop around the agents. Sometimes the quote provided by one Citizens agent will be different than the quote from another. Some policyholders have saved hundreds of dollars by doing this.

For example:

I don’t know which companies (if any) are writing non-owner-occupied insurance policies in that area, but I’ve found that buying rates from Citizens can make a big difference. The best Citizens quote I got for my son’s home in Pasco was $ 3,900 here in the city, but an insurance broker in Orlando got me the same policy for $ 2,900 using the purchase price of $ 134,000 compared to the $ 179,000 value used by local brokers, and charging lower rates.

The broker’s name is Colleen Pacheco with Florida Insurance Planners at (407) 767-1634. You can even secure houses with knob and tube wiring! She uses Lloyds of London in the quotes I have received.

Lloyds is a surplus lines operator not regulated by the state of Florida. The fees they charge are not regulated. If a surplus carrier were to become insolvent, the state would not be responsible for paying any claims. That consumer protection under the Florida Insurance Guarantee Act does not apply to surplus lines companies.

Get separate liability insurance

I’ve heard anecdotally that State Farm Insurance will make liability cheaper than Citizens, so you have to waive it with CPIC and then go to State Farm.

If liability worries you, for example if you have a lot of assets, then you need an Umbrella policy. It will only cost a minimal amount, but it will only cover you if other liability policies are in place.

Driving a car is your greatest vulnerability in your asset protection strategy. Due to a split second of inattention on the road, you can lose everything you own in the ensuing lawsuit.

Are you overinsured?

The insurance company can sometimes overvalue a home, causing your premium to go up. You may be able to use an appraisal to show them the proper value and thus lower your homeowner’s quote and therefore your insurance premium. Remember that an appraisal will include the value of the land, so subtract it to get the figure that you will use to persuade the insurance company of how much your building is worth.

Insurance companies generally gladly accept inflated premiums on your coverage, but are then reluctant to pay the insured amount in the event of a claim. Why pay high premiums without profit?

Get an insurance inspection of your home

An inspector can certify that your roof is code compliant and can give you a discount for having plywood shutters. There was apparently very little difference in the discount you receive for having hurricane shutters versus plywood.