The combination of announcements like this (more of them to come), the Bush administration\’s deaf ear to Crist\’s pleas for a national catastrophe coverage backstop and a storm season of any meaningful scale will quickly bring the Governor and OIR crashing back to the painful reality that they had no solution better than that of a free market charging consumers correct risk-based prices.
Either have the state write 100% of all hurricane insurance or get out of the way, Charlie, and let the private market work. No one has developed a fairer way to spread the cost of hurricanes than risk-based premiums paid to provate market insurers.
Your right Sam….Spread of risk, but remember, Florida let insurance companies form Florida companies so they do not have to spread the risk to other states.
Spread of risk also means allowing the charge of proper premium for the risk. When the the pricing of product is restricted as to not allow for proper premiums for the exposure insured against, then its only fair to restrict the spread of risk outside state lines.
You are right Larry..Companies have been artificially supressed. There is plenty of blame for the insurance problems in Florida. There is not one person to blame, except maybe the studid politicians who have allowed the problem to start and grow to what it is today.
USAA is doing this for the entire state, based on the 2004 hurricane season. I live in the Orlando area (Oviedo) and in the last 57 years we have only experienced 10 storms. Only two of them have been above a category one. The two above a category one were a 2 & 3. So if you ask me USAA is playing games with it\’s members, customers. I agree that if I was to build a house on the coast they may be justified in not insuring it, but this does not justify their actions for the entire state.
I have an honorable discharge from the USArmy Reserves and do I read correctly, that if I reside in FL> I cannot get a new home insurance; the home is CBC and never lived in; please contact me to make sure this is true?
Denial is not an effective strategy against tragedy. Global Warming effects are creeping into our environment albeit slowly on a human time scale, but it is inevitable. Insurance only mitigates risk, it does not work when the certainty is high, and especially not when certainty is 100%.
There are many articles that discuss the evolution of Global Warming that also show maps of regions that will eventually be underwater. That will happen over decades and it will be gut-wrenching because it will feel like it should be covered by insurance – until it is too late.
Federalizing the risks of natural disasters, ALL natural disasters, would be a much more sensible approach than the ad hoc approach now, PROVIDED each region at risk is rated appropriate to the risks in the region. Currently, insurance is voluntary against most risks, flood being an exception. People who do not buy insurance and lose everything to a tornado/hurricane/fire/earthquake generally get bailed out after the fact, a process that involves extensive arbitration and is exposed to large scale fraud.
Build the disaster premiums into property tax process, that would provide a vehicle for underwriting the risks of each property, and it would eliminate the “free riders” who wait for taxpayers to bail them out. Yes, it would require discipline, but it is achievable where the current system is structurally flawed and not likely to improve.
When the risk is absolute it is not likely anything can be done. Venice, Italy is a treasure for all mankind that is sinking and the water is rising. I will not bore you with my comments, there are a great many articles by folks much more knowledgeable and more literate that I. If you need a starting point I suggest National Geographic and Scientific American, and many of the news magazines.
And so here we are, it’s 2018 and how many hurricanes have hit Florida?!? I hope they’re losing their a$$ in lost premiums. Total abandonment of veterans, USAA should be ashamed of themselves. There are plenty of people in FL who don’t live on the coast (like in the pan handle) who have had NO claims, ever! The excuse presented by USAA is total garbage; a juvenile temper tantrum along with other major insurers in the state thinking they could bully the state. If FL had a REAL insurance commission they’d also ban all these companies, including USAA, from doing auto policies also.
Your anger should be focused towards the Florida politicians that has made insuring Floridians unacceptable to USAA. Businesses (including insurance companies) do not exist to lose money. Did you read the article and the insurance $ numbers? You think banning insurance companies and reducing competition in the insurance market will be good for consumer prices? Go to Amazon and order the book “Economics in One Lesson”. You need to read it.
David, you’re spot on. USAA is focused only on padding their pockets with special funding and high rates for mortgages and homeowner’s insurance. Over the past two years it’s only gotten worse, and USAA continues to use it’s military connection to make themselves fatter and fatter. They are too big of a company now; if something doesn’t put money in their pockets they simply back out of their obligation. USAA let me down on my first VA loan by trying to charge me over .5 % more than anyone else along with adding $5,000 in fees just to do the loan. Now they now won’t insure a home we are buying because of the potential for sinkholes in FL. Really? We’re done with them.
Vietnam Era Vet and I cannot get a homeowner insurance policy because I am exposed to the coastal winds living in central Florida. Are you kidding me USAA?… but you would love to sell me other products like savings accounts, life, and car insurance policies. My advice is to follow your instinct and do not follow the BS. Florida lawmakers (Republicans and democrats) created this mess by sitting back over the years and letting the fox watch the henhouse. The last thing I’ll say is to keep the faith and never give up, one day hopefully they will get it together.
As a USAA member in another state, I applaud their continued limiting of policies in Florida. The rest of the country should not be subsidizing the increased costs there. Until the premiums paid in Florida at a minimum offset the losses, the problem will continue. Tallahassee won’t let insurance companies play fair so they picked up their ball and went home. I don’t blame them. Don’t even get me started on the foolish locations of much of the housing. If you can afford to live on an island, you can self-insure your home or move. Additionally, there is a reason homes in other cyclone-prone areas of the world are made of concrete and cinderblock. Maybe Florida should learn from them.
The combination of announcements like this (more of them to come), the Bush administration\’s deaf ear to Crist\’s pleas for a national catastrophe coverage backstop and a storm season of any meaningful scale will quickly bring the Governor and OIR crashing back to the painful reality that they had no solution better than that of a free market charging consumers correct risk-based prices.
Either have the state write 100% of all hurricane insurance or get out of the way, Charlie, and let the private market work. No one has developed a fairer way to spread the cost of hurricanes than risk-based premiums paid to provate market insurers.
Your right Sam….Spread of risk, but remember, Florida let insurance companies form Florida companies so they do not have to spread the risk to other states.
Spread of risk also means allowing the charge of proper premium for the risk. When the the pricing of product is restricted as to not allow for proper premiums for the exposure insured against, then its only fair to restrict the spread of risk outside state lines.
You are right Larry..Companies have been artificially supressed. There is plenty of blame for the insurance problems in Florida. There is not one person to blame, except maybe the studid politicians who have allowed the problem to start and grow to what it is today.
USAA is doing this for the entire state, based on the 2004 hurricane season. I live in the Orlando area (Oviedo) and in the last 57 years we have only experienced 10 storms. Only two of them have been above a category one. The two above a category one were a 2 & 3. So if you ask me USAA is playing games with it\’s members, customers. I agree that if I was to build a house on the coast they may be justified in not insuring it, but this does not justify their actions for the entire state.
I have an honorable discharge from the USArmy Reserves and do I read correctly, that if I reside in FL> I cannot get a new home insurance; the home is CBC and never lived in; please contact me to make sure this is true?
USSA 00315 06 96
Denial is not an effective strategy against tragedy. Global Warming effects are creeping into our environment albeit slowly on a human time scale, but it is inevitable. Insurance only mitigates risk, it does not work when the certainty is high, and especially not when certainty is 100%.
There are many articles that discuss the evolution of Global Warming that also show maps of regions that will eventually be underwater. That will happen over decades and it will be gut-wrenching because it will feel like it should be covered by insurance – until it is too late.
Federalizing the risks of natural disasters, ALL natural disasters, would be a much more sensible approach than the ad hoc approach now, PROVIDED each region at risk is rated appropriate to the risks in the region. Currently, insurance is voluntary against most risks, flood being an exception. People who do not buy insurance and lose everything to a tornado/hurricane/fire/earthquake generally get bailed out after the fact, a process that involves extensive arbitration and is exposed to large scale fraud.
Build the disaster premiums into property tax process, that would provide a vehicle for underwriting the risks of each property, and it would eliminate the “free riders” who wait for taxpayers to bail them out. Yes, it would require discipline, but it is achievable where the current system is structurally flawed and not likely to improve.
When the risk is absolute it is not likely anything can be done. Venice, Italy is a treasure for all mankind that is sinking and the water is rising. I will not bore you with my comments, there are a great many articles by folks much more knowledgeable and more literate that I. If you need a starting point I suggest National Geographic and Scientific American, and many of the news magazines.
And so here we are, it’s 2018 and how many hurricanes have hit Florida?!? I hope they’re losing their a$$ in lost premiums. Total abandonment of veterans, USAA should be ashamed of themselves. There are plenty of people in FL who don’t live on the coast (like in the pan handle) who have had NO claims, ever! The excuse presented by USAA is total garbage; a juvenile temper tantrum along with other major insurers in the state thinking they could bully the state. If FL had a REAL insurance commission they’d also ban all these companies, including USAA, from doing auto policies also.
Your post did not age well.
Your anger should be focused towards the Florida politicians that has made insuring Floridians unacceptable to USAA. Businesses (including insurance companies) do not exist to lose money. Did you read the article and the insurance $ numbers? You think banning insurance companies and reducing competition in the insurance market will be good for consumer prices? Go to Amazon and order the book “Economics in One Lesson”. You need to read it.
David, you’re spot on. USAA is focused only on padding their pockets with special funding and high rates for mortgages and homeowner’s insurance. Over the past two years it’s only gotten worse, and USAA continues to use it’s military connection to make themselves fatter and fatter. They are too big of a company now; if something doesn’t put money in their pockets they simply back out of their obligation. USAA let me down on my first VA loan by trying to charge me over .5 % more than anyone else along with adding $5,000 in fees just to do the loan. Now they now won’t insure a home we are buying because of the potential for sinkholes in FL. Really? We’re done with them.
Vietnam Era Vet and I cannot get a homeowner insurance policy because I am exposed to the coastal winds living in central Florida. Are you kidding me USAA?… but you would love to sell me other products like savings accounts, life, and car insurance policies. My advice is to follow your instinct and do not follow the BS. Florida lawmakers (Republicans and democrats) created this mess by sitting back over the years and letting the fox watch the henhouse. The last thing I’ll say is to keep the faith and never give up, one day hopefully they will get it together.
As a USAA member in another state, I applaud their continued limiting of policies in Florida. The rest of the country should not be subsidizing the increased costs there. Until the premiums paid in Florida at a minimum offset the losses, the problem will continue. Tallahassee won’t let insurance companies play fair so they picked up their ball and went home. I don’t blame them. Don’t even get me started on the foolish locations of much of the housing. If you can afford to live on an island, you can self-insure your home or move. Additionally, there is a reason homes in other cyclone-prone areas of the world are made of concrete and cinderblock. Maybe Florida should learn from them.