Allstate and others finally abandoning Florida?

[Taffy]

I would gladly pay $1700 for insurance right now. Is your home made of concrete block?

I don't think any insurance company is a real picnic to work with when a major disaster arrives. Maybe I am wrong, but it doesn't matter.

If anyone has no problem paying for thier insurance, no matter how much the cost.. then they can afford to live in Florida.

I can't

[melhow]

I would gladly pay $1700 for insurance right now. Is your home made of concrete block?

I don't think any insurance company is a real picnic to work with when a major disaster arrives. Maybe I am wrong, but it doesn't matter.

If anyone has no problem paying for thier insurance, no matter how much the cost.. then they can afford to live in Florida.

I can't

Yup - concrete block/stucco and gable-hip roof. Nothing special, just an old "edwards scissorhands" type Florida house.

[tndefender]

Here is an interesting site relevant to some of the issues we are discussing in this thread:

http://www.protectingamerica.org/index.html

[tndefender]

someone show me the losses...allstate didn't lose money last year, orlando sentinel had an article where their CEO was bragging two months before hurricane season about near record profits

How about $1.55 billion in losses in one quarter?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8646608/

[CFL]

I would gladly pay $1700 for insurance right now. Is your home made of concrete block?

I don't think any insurance company is a real picnic to work with when a major disaster arrives. Maybe I am wrong, but it doesn't matter.

If anyone has no problem paying for thier insurance, no matter how much the cost.. then they can afford to live in Florida.

I can't

I left Florida, and so did the rest of my extended family. This "mass exodus" from Florida could better be described as a "slow leak". Real estate agents here in the small town of Winchester, Kentucky have told me they have been getting quite a few calls from residents in Florida looking to leave. My parents and sister went to Guntersville, Alabama and have met other people that moved from Florida's panhandle. In fact, our family doctor in Kentucky moved here from Jay, Florida! I think you are right. Quite a few people either can't afford to stay in Florida or are tired of the aggravation. I had been in Florida for over 20 years and it was hard to leave but I had no choice.

[melhow]

I would gladly pay $1700 for insurance right now. Is your home made of concrete block?

I don't think any insurance company is a real picnic to work with when a major disaster arrives. Maybe I am wrong, but it doesn't matter.

If anyone has no problem paying for thier insurance, no matter how much the cost.. then they can afford to live in Florida.

I can't

I left Florida, and so did the rest of my extended family. This "mass exodus" from Florida could better be described as a "slow leak". Real estate agents here in the small town of Winchester, Kentucky have told me they have been getting quite a few calls from residents in Florida looking to leave. My parents and sister went to Guntersville, Alabama and have met other people that moved from Florida's panhandle. In fact, our family doctor in Kentucky moved here from Jay, Florida! I think you are right. Quite a few people either can't afford to stay in Florida or are tired of the aggravation. I had been in Florida for over 20 years and it was hard to leave but I had no choice.

Hey fellow bluegrasser!

My husband is form Louisville, and we are planning to move back there next year PRIOR to hurricane season 06. We've been down here 5 years after being in KY for three before that (my husband was born and raised and I was a transplant from here in FL, born and raised - go figure), and we've about had it.

[CFL]

Hey there! You'll love being back here after all that storm stress. Things are quiet and peaceful, and you sure can get a whole lot more house for your money up here. I got a brand new house in a nice neighborhood for the price of an old fixer-upper in Pensacola. I was a little homesick when I first got here but now I really like it!

And my insurance bill has been cut fully in half!

[Taffy]

That is exactly what I am looking into. Housing in Georgia is so inexpensive and the insurance has to be at least half. The cost of living might be the same.. as in electric, food, gas and entertainment.. but the saving in insurance, and cost of buying a home... off set it.

So much better off financially up there than here.

I moved here in 1978 and I was 7. I am now going on 35. It is sad to leave.. but you know ... the progress and real estate boom in my city... the one I have been in for 28 years has made me not like it anymore anyway. There is no sense of history in Lee County. Cape Coral, actually, has left virtually nothing original standing. The County is guilty of the same thing. I look forward to a city that loves its history and shows it off.

Off my box now.

[johngaltfla]

I would gladly pay $1700 for insurance right now. Is your home made of concrete block?

I don't think any insurance company is a real picnic to work with when a major disaster arrives. Maybe I am wrong, but it doesn't matter.

If anyone has no problem paying for thier insurance, no matter how much the cost.. then they can afford to live in Florida.

I can't

I left Florida, and so did the rest of my extended family. This "mass exodus" from Florida could better be described as a "slow leak". Real estate agents here in the small town of Winchester, Kentucky have told me they have been getting quite a few calls from residents in Florida looking to leave. My parents and sister went to Guntersville, Alabama and have met other people that moved from Florida's panhandle. In fact, our family doctor in Kentucky moved here from Jay, Florida! I think you are right. Quite a few people either can't afford to stay in Florida or are tired of the aggravation. I had been in Florida for over 20 years and it was hard to leave but I had no choice.

I'm afraid that if we have one more season like this one, we are gone. The price of insurance, the economic damage and inability to really defend against Cat 4's and 5's without leaving all together might force us out. We probably will move in 2006. It's going to be sad, but we don't have a choice.

[CronkPSU]

someone show me the losses...allstate didn't lose money last year, orlando sentinel had an article where their CEO was bragging two months before hurricane season about near record profits

How about $1.55 billion in losses in one quarter?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8646608/

did you read the article??? that was the first time it ever didn't turn a profit and that is because katrina basically wiped out an entire city or put it under water!!!! for the same period last year, for which they decided to cancel insurance in florida for many of us, they turned a profit!!!! hell they say even with the storms, they expect to turn a profit for the year...from the article you linked

The net loss for the July-through-September quarter amounted to $2.36 per share, compared with a profit of $56 million, or 9 cents per share, a year earlier.

[LanceW]

We have USAA and are very happy with them.

We are the lucky ones though, as USAA is not offered to many at all.

[timNms]

I agree, and, to be fair, it does make sense. One could ask -- why should my rates go up because people continue to build expensive homes right on the coast, in hurricane-prone areas?! It doesn't really seem fair that I pay more for folks who continue to build in areas that will inevitably get tagged again in the future. Tax money is another issue as well -- millions of federal taxpayer money is going to rebuilding some of these areas that will only get damaged again within the next decade. Why should someone in Idaho have to pay for hurricane relief when people continue to build over and over in hurricane-prone areas? Congress is sending billions and billions of tax money to help with Katrina, and will end up sending billions more for Rita, Wilma, Dennis, etc. I'm certainly not trying to be insensitive, but just some thoughts from someone who lives far away from the coast.

Of course, if we go with this logic, then that means people should not build in areas that are at high risk for earthquakes, wildfires, tornadoes.....get the picture? No matter where one builds in the US, there is a risk of some type of natural disaster. To say that people should not build on the coast is unfair.
Heck, I live 90 miles inland. Never thought I'd see the day that we'd have a hurricane destroy mile upon mile of power lines and phone lines this far inland. I never dreamed I'd live to see the day that we would be without electricity for 2 weeks (some people are still without electricity 2 months after katrina), no phone service for a week (in some cases, many people are still without telephone service) and I never, in my wildest imagination, thought I'd have to wait 5 or 6 hours in line to get gas for my car.

[timNms]

Why bother with insurance? FEMA will pay you the money to repair your house. I'm sure if statefarm and allstate move out other companies will move in.

FEMA?? Yeah, right! Tell that to the people in MS who are still living in tents while waiting on help from FEMA!

My wife and I filed a claim with FEMA. But we were turned down because we have "insurance". Still waiting to hear from my insurance company. We live in a house that my inlaws had built. We pay the monthly payments and the house will be signed over to us as soon as it is paid for. Insurance is included in the payments. My father in law called the morgage company after the storm. The insurance company was supposed to have a representative contact us within a week of my father in law's phone call. That was almost 2 months ago!

[gtalum]

My wife and I filed a claim with FEMA. But we were turned down because we have "insurance".

I think that was the point. You'd be better off withotu insurance, as then FEMA would have already given you the money to fix your house courtesy of the US taxpayer.

[tndefender]

someone show me the losses...allstate didn't lose money last year, orlando sentinel had an article where their CEO was bragging two months before hurricane season about near record profits

How about $1.55 billion in losses in one quarter?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8646608/

did you read the article??? that was the first time it ever didn't turn a profit and that is because katrina basically wiped out an entire city or put it under water!!!! for the same period last year, for which they decided to cancel insurance in florida for many of us, they turned a profit!!!! hell they say even with the storms, they expect to turn a profit for the year...from the article you linked

The net loss for the July-through-September quarter amounted to $2.36 per share, compared with a profit of $56 million, or 9 cents per share, a year earlier.

Isn't that what a corporation is supposed to do, turn a profit?

[gtalum]

It's going to be sad, but we don't have a choice.

You always have a choice. You've just nearly made yours.

I'm here at least until my house gets severely damaged by a major hurricane. At that time I'll reevaluate.

[Lindaloo]

USAA would not cover us when we bought our house 2 years ago, so we took allstate, which then dropped us...luckily someone I know through work owns a state farm agency and they covered us

Just don't try to file a claim and you will remain insured.

Lindaloo,

Did State Farm drop you after a claim? What happened?

No, they didn't. BUT, my parents have State Farm and flood insurance. They should have topped each other out but State Farm was trying to get people with flood insurance to sign a paper stating the damages was all flood damage.

[Lindaloo]

To everybody who thinks that the insurance is a business, fine. So, let's look at it another way. Go back to how long you have been insured with your company. Add up premiums paid during that time period. You would have more than enough to fix your own dang house, plus some if you set aside that money in a savings account instead of allowing the insurance companies to get rich. They whine and cry about their losses but their net gain is in the millions of dollars each quarter.

They pay for your flooded car, but not your home. What sense does that make! lol.

Let your mortgage company attach insurance to your note. You will come out better in the end.

[gtalum]

You can always save up your money, buy a house with cash, and forego insurance.

[HurryKane]

USAA would not cover us when we bought our house 2 years ago, so we took allstate, which then dropped us...luckily someone I know through work owns a state farm agency and they covered us

Just don't try to file a claim and you will remain insured.

Lindaloo,

Did State Farm drop you after a claim? What happened?

No, they didn't. BUT, my parents have State Farm and flood insurance. They should have topped each other out but State Farm was trying to get people with flood insurance to sign a paper stating the damages was all flood damage.

Ohhh, ok. Thank you for answering. I am sorry to hear they are messing with your parents