10 years without a hurricane, yet insurance
rates soar |
Article Courtesy of News 10
By Sarah
Hollenbeck
Published
December 5, 2015
Monday is the official end of hurricane season and in
Florida this marks 10 years without a hurricane.
And yet, you are paying one of the highest insurance rates in the
country.
We went straight to the insurance experts to find out why rates haven't
gone down and to a consumer advocate to find out what you can do to
demand your money back.
Insurance companies say you
can blame it on building materials. As the prices
increase for items like roof shingles, siding and
windows, it costs the companies more to fix a house
ravaged by storms.
However, one consumer advocate isn't buying the
excuses and he says the only way to get change is to
elect people who will fight to get our money back.
Consumer advocate Sean Shaw says without storms,
insurance companies aren't rebuilding homes and all
that extra money you're paying the insurance
companies is more than likely lining the pockets of
CEOS. |
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The storms of 2004 and 2005 caused billions of
dollars in damage in Florida. Few homeowners were surprised when
insurance rates shot up the next year, but they didn't expect them to
stay high, and 10 years later homeowners are outraged to be paying among
the highest rates in the country.
Insurance companies have given several reasons for the high rates over
the years: sinkholes, insurance fraud, PIP etc. At the same time, many
of Florida's biggest insurers have reported record profits.
"At a certain point you have to tell the insurance agency we don't care
what the excuse is, rates are going to stop and they will not go up and
until we elect someone like that we are going to be in this slow creep
where they keep going up, keep going up, keep going up," Shaw stressed.
Insurance companies argue they have to price their rates for what is
expected to happen in the future, and they never know when a hurricane
could strike.
Here are four things you can do to get insurance companies to drop their
rates.
-
Elect leaders who vow to take on insurance
companies.
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Demand existing state leaders start getting
tougher on the insurance industry.
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Aggressively shop by getting property insurance
quotes from as many companies as you can to ensure you get the best
rate.
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Take the time to install roof straps and other
hurricane mitigation items to get a break in your insurance rates
and secure your home if we have a hurricane in the future.
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