Florida Retirement Buzz

The battering that Florida has taken from hurricanes over the last couple of years has brought a lot of attention to the home insurance industry. All kinds of rumors and horror stories have been generated, ranging from the unavailability of insurance to outright refusal to pay claims. To try and put some balance to this picture, the following facts about a case that a Buzz contributer recently became aware of is presented below.

A homeowner’s policy was taken out on January 5, 2004 and renewed annually thereafter. The coverage and premiums are shown in the accompanying table. The data looks pretty routine except for one additional fact. The tile roof on this property was damaged severely during the two hurricanes that hit the East Coast of Florida in September of 2004:

This resulted in a claim to the insurance company for replacement of the roof which was submitted in January of 2005. A check for $27,800 was received by the owner on February 25, 2005.

There are several factors to be considered here. First the speed with which the claim was paid in the midst of the extensive turmoil that these storms generated was truly amazing. Secondly, the company renewed the policy for subsequent years without any significant increase in the premium, even in view of the large claim that it had to pay in 2005. Hopefully this will prove to the reader that there are still “good actors” in the insurance business.

Okay, now for the name of the insurance company. It was Sunshine State Insurance Company of Sarasota, Florida. Consider checking them out!