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Earthquake, expansive soil, flood, hurricane, landslide and subsidence damage usually not covered! “All Perils” Means:   Learn About the Geology Every year in every state many property owners discover that their homeowners insurance policy will not pay when their homes are damaged by common geological processes such as earthquakes, expansive soils, floods, hurricanes, landslides and subsidence.…

MEMO To: All Florida Agents From: The Florida Association of Insurance Agents Subject: The Truth about People’s Trust Several months ago, FAIA began receiving complaints that an insurance company, whose advertising was critical of agents, may also be misrepresenting its price, or the reasons for that price, in potential violation of §626.9541, F.S.—Unfair methods of…

When people buy homeowner’s insurance, they usually intend for it to cover the home in which they live. That is also the insurance company’s expectation, and most of the time, that is the case. However, sometimes circumstances change and the home is left empty. For example, the family goes on a weeklong vacation, or one that lasts a month or more. One member of the couple may accept a temporary job transfer that will last for a few years, and they may decide not to sell the home. In other cases, the family may move into a new home but find themselves unable to sell the prior one. In all of these cases, the home is rendered either unoccupied or vacant. This change in status can affect the insurance coverage.

The standard homeowner’s policy provides coverage for losses caused by vandalism and malicious mischief. For example, the policy will pay for the repair and replacement of windows if the family comes home and finds all of the first floor windows broken. A reasonable person could conclude that vandals broke the windows. However, the policy will not pay if the home has been vacant for more than 60 days. Insurance companies design the policies and set the prices under the assumption that a home will be occupied. A vacant building is vulnerable to damage by vandals, so the companies have designed other policies to cover them.

As millions of U.S. households face financial hardship in the current U.S. recession, retaining existing customers has never been more important. For insurance carriers in terms of long-term profitability, customer retention is tops, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Personal Insurance Retention Special Report. The report finds that in the past 12 months,…

The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season will produce 11 tropical storms, of which six will become hurricanes, WSI Corp predicted Monday. The Andover, Massachusetts, private forecaster reduced its forecast from the one it issued in December, when it said the six-month season starting on June 1 would see 13 tropical storms, including seven hurricanes. The lower…

Edison Insurance Company Federated National Insurance Company First Home Insurance Company Florida Peninsula Insurance Company Homeowners Choice Property and Casualty Insurance Company HomeWise Preferred Insurance Company Landmark One Insurance Company Magnolia Insurance Company Northern Capital Insurance Company Southern Fidelity Insurance Company Southern Oak Insurance Company Sunshine State Insurance Company United Property & Casualty Insurance Company

Dear Florida Insurance Consumers, When your insurance rates go higher, the customer service gets worse, and your fair claim treatment is non existent.  Please remember your Florida legislatures that supported the insurance lobby over you. This chart outlines the status and descriptions of key property insurance legislation so far, including which bills would benefit insurers.…

Businessowners Policies, traditionally referred to simply as “BOPs,” were introduced in 1976 and significantly revised in 1987. The BOP evolved gradually from the 1987 revisions to include risk classification and sizes not contemplated in the original or “first revision” editions of the form. Additionally, many insurance carriers have built upon the Insurance Services Office’s (ISO’s)…

A Leon County Circuit Court judge has put Coral Insurance into receivership , effectively ending the company’s operations. Hollywood-based Coral has an agreement with Security First Insurance and MacNeill Group to provide replacement coverage for its policyholders. The Florida Department of Financial Services is the receiver for the company. “Our top priority is to help…

More than 1 million customers will be affected Little more than two weeks after state regulators turned down its request for a 47.1 percent rate hike, State Farm announced Tuesday it would stop offering property insurance in Florida. And although policy holders will have up to two years to find another insurer, Gov. Charlie Crist…