Florida homeowner’s insurance woes have been exhaustively documented here -especially my own- so I won’t cover old ground.
Our policy, carried by the state pool, ‘Citizens’, is being renewed next month. Suddenly, and very unexpectedly, I’m receiving mail from insurance agents claiming to offer better deals and thinking ‘there’s got to be something cheaper out there’. There are a glut of new carriers in Florida which are supposedly panting for my business.

I’m a little leery of these new, smaller insurers. I remember companies like that making a beeline for the hills after Andrew, leaving devastation and despair in their wake. While I’d like to lower my payment, I don’t want a company unable to cope with a major catastrophe.

But, buoyed by the recent inquiries, I decided to call my own agent. Why not start there, since they are supposed to be looking out for my best *cough* interests?

After I stated the facts and requested a look into new companies the agent replied ‘oh, absolutely I can look for you’ but when she read that the cracker box was hammered together in 1976, her lilting voice took a decided turn for the floor. Oh, no. It’s much too old. Oh, good; it’s not just me, it’s my house as well.

After warning me away from the new, speculative insurance companies, the girl then spread seeds of hope: A wind mitigation inspection of the roof. If the roof passes inspection they would be able to take anywhere from 500. to 1500. off my annual policy! Sounds like a deal, right? I called the guy and he’ll be out tomorrow afternoon. Keith the roof guy is supposed to be spreading the mastic stuff tomorrow, but inspection guy said all he needs to see is the attic. God bless ‘em, he can try. It’s 150. fee whether we pass or not. Pray we pass, k?

I did ask the insurance chick WHY no one had informed us of this before… and received no answer.

I hate having our insurances spread out; auto insurance with one company, life insurance with another and homeowner’s with yet another… Seems terribly disjointed.

Anyway, there ought to be an Insurance Wall of Shame and Insurance Depot of South Florida should be the first name carved into the wall. Instead of simply asking for a chance to quote us in their letter, they used intimidation, lies and scare tactics.

We are writing to notify you that under Citizen’s Rules if you are eligible for homeowners insurance from a private carrier you do not qualify for coverage from Citizens Property Insurance.

That’s not only a baldfaced lie -and I would know because I turned down insurance from a private carrier last year- it’s intimidation in order to sell something, which is ILLEGAL!
Rat Bastards.