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AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

thehill.com

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Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#21

Post by maweaver »

Everyone thinks of flooding in Florida, but the real risk is wind. When a hurricane hits, a relatively small area is subject to flooding. But huge swaths of the state are hit with high sustained winds. If the winds compromise the roof and rain gets into the house, you're looking at a huge amount of damage to the home.

For that reason, insurers are very strict about roof age. Roofs are very expensive to replace ($15-$20k+), so it becomes a fight between homeowners trying to save money with a roof that works just fine (in their mind at least) and an insurance company that keeps raising rates or threatening to drop if they don't replace it.

Enter roofing contractors. In Florida you can assign your benefits to them and they gain the ability to sue on your behalf. So they go to desperate homeowners and offer to find a reason for roof replacement that homeowners insurance will cover, and sue the insurance company if they refuse. To give you an idea of the scope of this, 79% of insurance lawsuits come from Florida.

Although other factors do exist, this is a large part of the reason insurance is so expensive here even for those not in a flood-prone area.

Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#22

Post by klyrs »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #13

BTW, it's not just home insurance. Auto insurance is spiking. We're seeing 30% you-suck-for-living-in-FL surcharges - this is above/beyond the existing hikes from ever-increasing vehicle repair costs. That 30% surcharge especially sucks for people who can't even afford collision/replacement coverage.

Hurricane-driven floods wreck cars too. You don't suck for living in Florida, but actuarily speaking, your most expensive assets are at significant risk.

Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#23

Post by brucethemoose2 »

dnstalk wrote: post #18
brucethemoose2 wrote: post #2

No surprise there. Here in Florda, there are thousands of huge 2-3 story mansions on the keys and beach... including right where we are, on the left side of Ian's landfall. These places should be empty public beaches or hardened hotels, but alas they are just banks of big houses that will get flooded and torn up by the next hurricane. And there are tons of developments built in low, swampy areas next to big rivers. A…

Miami-Dade and Broward requires buildings to be built to modern hurricane standards ("best in the world") but the rest of the state has resisted adopting the same standards. https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/South-Floridas-Hurricane-B...

I am not worried about wind, the houses here are still built like bunkers. Oak trees, cages, signs all got ripped up by Ian, but our neighborhood's houses were fine.

But the only thing that protects against flooding is building elevated, with an empty 1st floor or stilts or whatever.

Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#24

Post by brucethemoose2 »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #20
JimtheCoder wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if the mansions are getting built, which they appear to be, the workers must be getting there somehow...

> But if the mansions are getting built, which they appear to be, the workers must be getting there somehow... I did geothermal for mansions a long while back and it's mostly specialized contractors bringing in a small crew. It's not a ton of employed people and not locals. Where I've seen high numbers of local employees making good wages are in areas constructing a lot of dense housing, particularly townhomes.

There is a ton of both around here (south of Tampa)

Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#25

Post by brucethemoose2 »

JimtheCoder wrote: post #15
WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Doesn't this boost GDP and keep people employed? Build a big house, weather knocks it down, build a bigger house, weather knocks it down... No because the people who most need the wages can't afford to live where the work is.

But if the mansions are getting built, which they appear to be, the workers must be getting there somehow...

It is comical to see construction crews, yard guys and such cram into the tiny key roads to build and keep up the mansions.

Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#26

Post by brucethemoose2 »

JimtheCoder wrote: post #12
brucethemoose2 wrote: post #2

No surprise there. Here in Florda, there are thousands of huge 2-3 story mansions on the keys and beach... including right where we are, on the left side of Ian's landfall. These places should be empty public beaches or hardened hotels, but alas they are just banks of big houses that will get flooded and torn up by the next hurricane. And there are tons of developments built in low, swampy areas next to big rivers. A…

Doesn't this boost GDP and keep people employed? Build a big house, weather knocks it down, build a bigger house, weather knocks it down...

After Ian, many workers' homes got trashed, and there was a massive worker vacuum. Contractors poured in from all over the country to fix stuff at inflated prices, with priority pretty much dictated by wealth.

For instance, we had tree choppers and stump grinders from Georgia. They drove heavy equipment all the way down here.

Honestly I dunno what happened to mega mansions that really got hit. I don't go down to Port Charlotte much.

Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#27

Post by time0ut »

As mentioned in the article, Farmers just announced they are exiting the state as well. And not just for home owners. They are winding down auto and umbrella products as well. They are no longer writing new policies and won’t renew existing ones. My understanding is that they were forced to withdraw the others in order to pull out of the home owners market. Pretty dire issue. It sucks for the people who built in safe areas to code…

Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#28

Post by snowwrestler »

acdha wrote: post #6
rdtsc wrote: post #4

I guess people might flock to Florida because it's warm there and it doesn't have an income tax? I can see out of state buyers get what looks like a house they can afford, only to find out they are on the hook for a huge insurance bill every month. If insurance companies exit from an area, what happens to mortgages then in that area? Banks like to protect their mortgage properties and force people to buy insurance, e…

The state of Florida is likely going to end up as the insurer of last resort, which causes some interesting political tensions because it means that a lot of working-class people are going to be subsidizing the well-connected people who are wealthy enough to own the waterfront property which is most at risk from flooding.

This is the beauty of “forever” cultural wedge issues: if you can get people to vote you into office based on transgender rights or abortion, then they won’t ever vote you out of office, even if your decisions cost them tons of money.

Re: AAA is limiting coverage in Florida, citing natural disaster threat

#29

Post by sagarm »

acdha wrote: post #6
rdtsc wrote: post #4

I guess people might flock to Florida because it's warm there and it doesn't have an income tax? I can see out of state buyers get what looks like a house they can afford, only to find out they are on the hook for a huge insurance bill every month. If insurance companies exit from an area, what happens to mortgages then in that area? Banks like to protect their mortgage properties and force people to buy insurance, e…

The state of Florida is likely going to end up as the insurer of last resort, which causes some interesting political tensions because it means that a lot of working-class people are going to be subsidizing the well-connected people who are wealthy enough to own the waterfront property which is most at risk from flooding.

That's already happening: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article270752777.h...
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