https://www.tampabay.com/news/...

great info!

My friend applied back in May for new windows, she's on a list to get windows in October. She lives two blocks from the beach, and a widow, so this was a really good deal for her 45 year old windows.
It's good they are extending it.

This seems like the right way to handle the greedy insurance companies. If enough people upgrade their windows and roofs, surely insurance premiums will come down. Only $10,000 doesn't go very far, unfortunately.

We have a small house and we've done all the above (at our own expense) in the last two years, windows all around, a metal roof plus a new hurricane rated garage door as well. Last year when our long-term insurer cut us off, we were quoted over $7000 for new insurance including hurricane and we are on high ground, over a mile inland of the Intercoastal waterway. Happily, we do not have a mortgage so we decided to just take out regular homeowner's (fire, theft, liability) insurance and it cost us only $900. We're basically self-insuring now if there is hurricane damage. Taking a chance that the $6000/year we're saving will pay for a lot of damage, if it happens. Plus it will be a further direct investment in the house, instead of flushed away into the pockets of insurance companies.

If more people are able to do what we're doing, the hurricane insurance rates WILL eventually have to come down. But if you have a mortgage for more than a certain percentage of your home value, your bank can foreclose if you don't fully insure your house.

That does sound like a great plan for many to hurricane proof their homes.
I am not sure anything will help to lower rates in Florida, there are just too many homes built in locations where homes should not be. Because of our previous experience in coastal living, we used an app on my phone to check elevation when we were looking for a home here in Florida. Some of the priciest real estate in our area is in elevations less than 10'. We even saw neighborhoods at 1'. In many areas Hwy A1A is around 6". That is crazy, even a modest storm surge will cause damage. During Hurricane Hugo the storm surge reached 20". That was pretty rare but if something like that were to happen it does not matter how far you are from the water, it matters how high you are. Now as we plan our move to the mountains I was using the elevation app again to check how high - the higher the cooler in summer.

I agree with you Alice, I don't think there is any hope for property insurance in Florida, this has been going on for decades. Even with some of the newest reform bills for fraudulent lawsuits which accounted for almost 80 percent of insurance claims, there certainly is an uptick of severe storms hitting FL, and way too many homes built where they shouldn't be. I'm sure many would like to update their older homes with hurricane proofing, but the average Joe can't afford it after digging so deep into their pockets just to keep their homes right now.

We're going to be non renewed next year since our insurance company is pulling completely out of FL. I'm paying a different company for my dad's insurance and they too are non renewing next year, not pulling out, just don't want to write a house over forty years old. Neither of us has every put in a single claim in over 40 years.

We're seriously thinking of doing the same thing as Elaine next. year when we get canceled. What else can we do to stay in the place we love.

I am told most FL insurance companies just don't have the money to cover the losses that keep coming. I would not want to be an underwriter these days when fires and floods can wipe out entire towns.

Unfortunately where I reside in the PNW , up in the mountain area near a canyon , we are facing home owners insurance coverage rising dramatically.

A new map was designed by the forestry service designating areas in potential fire Zones. We are in a new zone-color orange . Most Oregonians are fighting the new map designations.

Due to insurance costs and wild fires destroyed several towns and structures, many insurance companies can cancel insurance coverage for any reason.

Fire is certainly harder to guard your home against than just wind and flooding. But did you see that one house that survived the Lahaina wildfire? There are several articles about it, and why they think it didn't catch fire when the houses all around it burned to the ground.

I'll bet all the new houses that are built there will be required to have fire-resistant siding like stucco or stone, metal roofs and no landscaping adjacent to the house. Still it's pretty likely that the people who move back to Lahaina when it is able to be re-built won't be able to get insurance for love nor money.

Elaine Yea I did see the home that survived the fire. very true..
I also wonder if this will change the home building industry to revise building codes to fire resistant materials. And how it could affect the horticulture industry.
I have several acres that we grow yearly grass hay for the horses. Summers hotter temps turns the pastures into dust.
Our home and garden is protected by sprinkler system and made with fire resistant materials. (Stucco, cement tiles. Etc…) The barn & out buildings have zero protection. We do store foam to apply when needed but it is toxic to use could cause the soil to become sterile.

It certainly is a scary situation. A friend who lives beside a canyon in San Diego is required by law to maintain the vegetation in the canyon, it is not allowed to get overgrown and certain plants that might catch fire more easily (like eucalyptus) are forbidden. I am not sure but assume any plant material that contains oil would be prohibited. Sunflowers come to mind.

I was looking up a couple weeks ago the average homeowners insurance rates. I remember the tornado states have the highest rates, I think Oklahoma topped the list, and Hawaii was the lowest. I was surprised Florida was in the middle area, but I'm sure it is working up the list by next year. Every state has its natural disasters that is certain, I think tornados scare me the most of all. I've evacuated for wildfire and landslides before in Calif. and I'd rather deal with hurricanes any day. Of course I don't live on the ocean.