The State of Insurance in Florida

[PropertyWishes]

The issue of property insurance in the State of Florida leaves a bad taste in the mouth of all homeowners.

My personal homeowner insurance will increase in April from $1744/year to $4862/year.

But help is on the way-or so their saying from the new Governors office. I'm still undecided whether this office is doing any good as of yet. This is an issue on everyone's mind in our Beautiful Sunny and sometimes turbulant Florida.

There is hope however. Two things will help to lower the costs of 8 hurricanes in a row:

1. The state has mandated that all insurance companies must give discounts on the Wind Loss (Hurricane) portion of your policy. You must have a state licensee do an inspection and report to your insurance agent, who then in turn, sends the info to your insurance company for them to determine what discount you will receive. (in Southwest Florida see (link removed) Some folks have received up to 51%!

2. The other help that's on the way-The state has put into place the Florida Safe Home program that will offer to match up to $5000 in home improvements when you fortify your home with Hurricane resistant products. This program is still being worked on and inspectors are being trained. I certainly will take advantage of this one.

Here's my question:

Should I offer this information when selling a Florida Property?
*On the one hand, it will solidify the client and the relationship-as I will be looking after their interests.
*On the other hand, would I be delving into their personal stuff?
Hmmmmm......


Valerie
link removed

[Rex]

Heh about this same here in Louisiana since Katrina.. ugh

[SummitColorado]

I would not be concerned about getting into their personal life. If you have already pre-qualified them, found what they are looking for in a house and help them find financing, you are already pretty personal. It would have to be a rather unsophisticated buyer to not have any idea about the insurance situation in Florida. I know of many deals that have fallen apart because after everyone agrees on price, adequate insurance at a price the buyer and the financial institution can live with is not available.

Informing your buyer about what is the latest in that important part of your deal should only endear you to your client. If the buyer is totally uninformed to what is happening in Florida, and you did nothing, I would worry about due diligence. Just like a legal or accounting question that from your experience you are knowledgeable about, you can only give your opinion and should end by saying, that they need to check out the topic with their…, attorney, CPA or insurance person.

[Quorum]

I work for an insurance inspection firm and we get calls all the time - the homeowners do not know about these inspections. It appears they only find out by contacting their insurance agent, real estate agent or going to the MSFH website.

We also provide free training to realtors so they can inform the homeowners on the Wind Mitigation and Four Point Inspections. We work throughout Florida so call us if you need an inspection or want more information.