[madrose]

I received my renewal notice for my home which we bought in June 2011 and it had a 20% increase in premium (from $633. to $760.) and the sinkhole deductible went to 10% of the price of our home. Last year it had a $500. deductible. I was pretty annoyed that they went up in price, yet now give us less coverage, so I called The Village Insurance (which is my provider) and they told me that I could shop around for a cheaper policy.... but to get a new company to insure for sink hole would require a new inspection at my cost from $140 to $200 and if the new company found any cracks in the concrete they would NOT write sink hole coverage. She also said that sinhole repair was expensive with some claims in the $80,000 to $100,000 range.
I called the insurance company directly and they said that Florida now required them to have a larger reserve to pay off claims. Additionally the costs of claims had required them to increase their premium. The 10% deductible sinkhole coverage was to mitigate their costs and help them keep prices down. They said that they would write a policy that included sink hole coverage on a home that passed an inspection (NO CRACKS).

I called the state agency and they told me that it was true that they had received numerous calls from people who had been denied sink hole because of a crack. (my new home had tiny cracks in the garage and lanai after the build) She also said that costs had been increasing because there had been numerous sinkhole fraud cases, which cost them a lot of money. In addition the state had passed a law requiring higher reserves to be maintained by the insurance companies. Pretty upsetting to pay more and yet get less coverage!

[thistrucksforyou]

Originally Posted by Finallyfree

Can anyone tell me who they got homeowners insurance from and why? We close on July 9th and need to find insurance carrier. Is The Villages Insurance the best deal? Thanks

I bought thru the villages, price is about the same as everyone else with the same coverage but as a new home owner no one told me that the villages insurance will not cover your home if you are a part timer unless you hire and have in place a liceansed and bonded home watch service which they will give you a list...additional 40 bucks a month...JUST SAYIN

[jgbama]

Originally Posted by Finallyfree

Can anyone tell me who they got homeowners insurance from and why? We close on July 9th and need to find insurance carrier. Is The Villages Insurance the best deal? Thanks

Who did you end up going with? We close on July 16th and I'm waiting on one more quote, from the company in Jacksonville Bill recommended. I have talked with AAA and The Villages.

Because we are buying a pre-owned, built in 94 and has original roof, we have found that has created a problem as they just changed coverage on original roofs from 20 years to 15 years.

But, The Villages provided a far lower quote as of now. Once we get the roof replaced (sooner than I was planning), we will go through the process again (which is a real pain for the homeowner and I suspect a pain as well for the agencies).

Can't imagine what wealthy people who are buying a waterfront place in Miami must go through!

Will share where we end up on this venture. I will say for those looking at pre-owned to keep in mind the roof issue we learned about. If it is was built in 1997 or earlier and has the original roof, you might could use that in your negotiations.

[Down Sized]

Villages in Sumter satisfied me. Even my car insurance was less. The key is don't buy down further south where most of the sink holes are. As the water table goes down there will be more sink holes. Bottom line is if you want to be in Paradise, there will be a risk.

[Yankee Quilter]

Originally Posted by Down Sized

Villages in Sumter satisfied me. Even my car insurance was less. The key is don't buy down further south where most of the sink holes are. As the water table goes down there will be more sink holes. Bottom line is if you want to be in Paradise, there will be a risk.

Where is this sink hole line problem?
Thanks

[dee1940]

the village insurance is definitely higher. i called safeguard casualty and was 300.00 cheaper for the same coverage!!!!

[terrieb]

We are making our 7th visit to the Villages in a few months. We are retired and all we need to do to make it happen is sell our condo to have money to buy in the Villages. What concerns me is the cost of homeowners insurance. In reading the posts, I am concerned about the sink hole coverage and the huge % for deductible. We have friends who live in the Panhandle of Florida and friends of theirs in Florida's insurance quadrupled to $7,500 for home owners insurance. That is a big OUCH! Do most of you find your insurance premiums increase every year? Do most insurances have a flat rate deductible or % deductible. I spoke with a representative today at AARP Hartford and they no longer provide coverage to Florida except to those still grandfathered in. They will not take new policies for anyone moving to Florida. We currently live in a condo (2600 sq. ft) in Ohio and our yearly premium is $540.00 a year. I do not want my pension and SS to go entirely to homeowners insurance. I would appreciate any feedback regarding homeowners insurance in the Villages.

[bandsdavis]

We are moving to the Village of St. Charles next week, and got our homeowners from The Villages Insurance. Our cost is $650 per year. We do not have the added sinkhole coverage, but all properties in FL must have Catastrophic Ground Collapse coverage as part of homeowners. You should be sure to understand the difference. We got 3 separate quotes and they were all in the same ball park.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by terrieb

.......We have friends who live in the Panhandle of Florida and friends of theirs in Florida's insurance quadrupled to $7,500 for home owners insurance. .......

Have your friends check on where their friends live - it's likely very close to the Gulf and/or they have a pretty expensive home.

Is H.O. insurance more expensive in FL versus OH? Yep. But I don't think you'll be paying anywhere even remotely close to $7,500 a year for it on a typical home in TV. We paid $584 this year for our annual H.O. policy with sinkhole coverage on a patio villa built in '07.

Bill

[GatorFan]

My friend bought a home in Spruce Creek South. Bought her home policy from Kevin McDonald's Allstate office. Company was Security First. Paid for inspection and was given sinkhole coverage.

[CarGuys]

Originally Posted by GatorFan

My friend bought a home in Spruce Creek South. Bought her home policy from Kevin McDonald's Allstate office. Company was Security First. Paid for inspection and was given sinkhole coverage.

The Villages Insurance beat our other quotes and we got Flood Homeowners and total Sinkhole coverage just before our January closing.

With the closing coming on quick and the Citizens bank running the closing timeline we just got it done. Being out of State did not help. We will shop around once full time this July.

NO! ONE would write us for sinkhole coverage at the time we needed. After the Ashland pics I feel pretty glad we got it.

H

[2 Oldcrabs]

We have a new 2030 sq ft home. We have the most coverage we can get thru St Johns Ins. based in Orlando. We got it thru the Allstate agency on CR 101. We have sink hole coverage now but will need to have an inspection at a cost of about $150 before they will renew sink hole. Agent said, even if it passes they probably will not renew because of the # of sink holes in the area. I will still have "catastrophic ground collapse". (all Fl policies must offer) Premium is $829/yr. The agent said it would be about 50% more if the house was not built to the newest "wind standard". Insurance companies do not like the "risk" in Fl.

[jimbo2012]

Originally Posted by 2 Oldcrabs

Premium is $829/yr. The agent said it would be about 50% more if the house was not built to the newest "wind standard". Insurance companies do not like the "risk" in Fl.

That is a major factor in making a choice in buying a resale, find the year it was built.

[SukiChu]

I spoke with our State Farm agent (Illinois) this morning. We have been with them for 38 years. They are no longer writing any policies in Florida. We will have to find another insurance company before closing. It does sound as though our insurance will be less costly - that is a positive!

[Cedwards38]

I'm with The Villages Ins. also. Great service from my agent and the cost is good too.