Over the past three months there has been a cloud of press surrounding
State Farm's announcement of withdrawling from the Florida Home Owner's Insurance market. There has been a lot of confusion and misinformation from all sides on the issue, as a customer of
State Farm or as a home owner in the State of Florida, this issue will have effects on everyone.
State Farm is the second largest home owner's insurance carrier in the State, this will directly effect all of those policy holders and also force market saturation as the
State Farm policies come into the open market. This may poise a problem in the capacity of other carriers, so it is important to be proactive in your search for coverage to insure your placement with the top carriers in the State.
This withdrawl has stemed from an earlier denial of rate increases and for a complete time line of these events please click here
http://www.floir.com/SFChronology.aspx. The current status of the withdrawl is still undecided as the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) denied
State Farm's petition for withdrawl.
State Farm has until April 14th to re-file an amended petition.
So what does this all mean to you?
- State Farm cannot outright cancel your policy, when the withdrawl occurs they must provide you with a 6 month notice before your policy is non-renewed.
- Your State Farm Agent must provide you with notice and option if they plan to transfer you to Citizens. This would be a new policy, so please shop and compare outside of the resort company, Citizens. This is the only company State Farm Agents can place your home with.
- There are no carriers in the State of Florida that offer Home and Auto Insurance under the same company, but most P&C agencies are able to provide discounts just by being a homeowner, having good credit, sometimes a pay in full discount is available and if you have had prior insurance coverage with no lapse. Usually the multipolicy discount does not equate to a savings of any consequence when insuring that your home has coverage. You may be surprised at the savings of your new home owners policy.
- If you are over the age of 75, it may not be advantagous to try to move all of your policies, as your auto coverage will transfer into an indemenity line.
- Not all Home Owner's Insurance companies offer the same coverages. Popular exclusions are partial replacement cost on personal property (ACV), water back up and wind driven rain in non-named storms. This makes it important to consult a reputible professional agency and have them evaluate your current policy and make sure you are getting the proper coverage.
- Home Owner's Insurance is a yearly contract, but you can cancel at anytime and will be a due a refund for the prorated period. You are free to move your policy at anytime.
If you would like a complementry evaluation, feel free to contact our agency direct by email : dmwhiteinsurance@gmail.com or by phone at 386-532-1442
