[billnchristy]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I think he's mad cause everyone shits on CA.

I don't get the gator thing... I've lived in FL most of my life and I don't recall every just coming up on a gator. Never encountered a gator walking down the street or in my yard or in my hot tub. The only gators I've seen are because I specifically went looking for them. Maybe if you're house backs up to the everglades or something.

I lived in Florida for 16 years and saw maybe two. Lived in Charleston for 6mo while at Nuclear Power School and saw 2 dozen of the bastards, including one sunning on the road after a 14hr shift. Had to sit there for 20 minutes until he moved.

[PKL]

really thought I wanted to buy a vacation house in FL but at this point I am pretty positive the only way I would be willing to do that is if it's in a condominium on a high floor. just dont feel like dealing with the potential headaches when I dont even live there full time and wouldnt be able to address something like this when it comes. scary shit. stay safe!

[CarsAndGuitars]

Sanibel

[cmyx6go]

What a mess! Anyone who didn't evacuate and is still on Sanibel or Captiva is screwed. Wow. So sad.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by PKL

really thought I wanted to buy a vacation house in FL but at this point I am pretty positive the only way I would be willing to do that is if it's in a condominium on a high floor. just dont feel like dealing with the potential headaches when I dont even live there full time and wouldnt be able to address something like this when it comes. scary shit. stay safe!

Storms like this are not common but insurance was a mess before this. Can’t imagine what it will be like next year, especially for anyone on / near the coast.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

What a mess! Anyone who didn't evacuate and is still on Sanibel or Captiva is screwed. Wow. So sad.

If they survived. It’s hard to imagine making a decision to stay in Sanibel or Captiva with that storm approaching, yet I am fairly certain some did.

[KenB925]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Storms like this are not common but insurance was a mess before this. Can’t imagine what it will be like next year, especially for anyone on / near the coast.

I can, I have a place in Tahoe, and my mom lives in the Santa Cruz mountains. With the recent fires insurance has become a pain in the ass.

The state had to provide a fire insurance package, then you have to get wrap around coverage for everything else.

To stick with a 'conventional' insurance a policy that was around $3000 (give or take a couple hundred bucks) would go to $10,800

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Storms like this are not common but insurance was a mess before this. Can't imagine what it will be like next year, especially for anyone on / near the coast.

This is my concern. Insurance. Many carriers have moved out of Louisiana. We are with UPC and they are leaving LA at the end of the year. Our premium before Hurricane Ida was around $3200 and went up to $5800. We are starting to look for a new policy. At what point are you paying more than it becomes worth to live in an area? There are so many costal communities along the US that can be affected by storms.

[CarsAndGuitars]

One of the big problems (scams?) with home insurance in FL is with roof replacement. Barrel roofs can last 20, and up to 30 years. At the end of useful life, people make insurance claims and get paid out for non-pro rated / full replacement which for a 2500'/sq house is mid 5 figures.

We all pay for that in our perpetually increasing premiums.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

This is my concern. Insurance. Many carriers have moved out of Louisiana. We are with UPC and they are leaving LA at the end of the year. Our premium before Hurricane Ida was around $3200 and went up to $5800. We are starting to look for a new policy. At what point are you paying more than it becomes worth to live in an area? There are so many costal communities along the US that can be affected by storms.

All the big insurers stopped writing policies here after Andrew in 1992. Our insurance was up to $6K when we renewed this year. I replaced a 20-year old roof and it came back down to $4k, where it was a few years ago. Insurers have been jacking up rates (partly due to insurance fraud which only gets worse with every storm and also inflation) and dropping people with older roofs. The state has an insurer of last resort but they are expensive and can’t imagine it could survive and pay claims if they covered the whole state. My guess will be a 50%+ increase next year with fewer insurers in the market. Not to bring politics into it, but one candidate for Governor claims he will “force” insurers to lower rates, which would be a neat trick if they could do that and still remain solvent.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by CarsAndGuitars

One of the big problems (scams?) with home insurance in FL is with roof replacement. Barrel roofs can last 20, and up to 30 years. At the end of useful life, people make insurance claims and get paid out for non-pro rated / full replacement which for a 2500'/sq house is mid 5 figures.

We all pay for that in our perpetually increasing premiums.

That is a huge problem. I just shelled out $49K to replace my roof while others in my neighborhood went the route you described years after Irma. On one hand I feel stupid for using my own money. On the other, it just seems wrong and I couldn’t do it just because others did it.

I also understand roofers that harvest these claims jack up the price of the replacement to pay the inspectors and lawyers they get involved. So it’s not just paying for a roof it’s paying way more than it should cost. Absolutely needs to be reformed.

[floridaorange]

my sisters condo flooded - she lives in my street - several lakes overflowed badly

[CarsAndGuitars]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

That is a huge problem. I just shelled out $49K to replace my roof while others in my neighborhood went the route you described years after Irma. On one hand I feel stupid for using my own money. On the other, it just seems wrong and I couldn’t do it just because others did it.

I also understand roofers that harvest these claims jack up the price of the replacement to pay the inspectors and lawyers they get involved. So it’s not just paying for a roof it’s paying way more than it should cost. Absolutely needs to be reformed.

Don't leave out the nonsense with the public adjusters (never heard of them prior to my move from NYS). They are *supposed to be* consumer advocates as a counterpart to the insurance adjuster / underwriter but really are often nothing more than ambulance chasers who do little more than to jack up your claim so they can get paid. Deadweight and a monkey wrench in one, if you will.

Not to mention, a significant number of motorists are uninsured in the state. The whole insurance system in Florida is one big cluster fuck.

[rebekahb]

Oh yeah, that's what happened right after Katrina. The amount people got paid for tiny amounts of damage was insane. We have one friend who is a multi-millionaire. He had wind driven rain from Ida last year and it messed up a few areas of the floor near his back door. He could afford to spend $2k or less to fix it but he's been fighting with insurance to pay him. I can't tell you how many times he's done this. It really makes me sick to tell you the truth.

I could go on and on about the stories I've heard about how much people made off storms. I don't know what the answer is but I will agree it's all jacked up. I get so tired to paying for other peoples scams and unwillingness to actually take care of themselves.

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

Oh yeah, that's what happened right after Katrina. The amount people got paid for tiny amounts of damage was insane. We have one friend who is a multi-millionaire. He had wind driven rain from Ida last year and it messed up a few areas of the floor near his back door. He could afford to spend $2k or less to fix it but he's been fighting with insurance to pay him. I can't tell you how many times he's done this. It really makes me sick to tell you the truth.

I could go on and on about the stories I've heard about how much people made off storms. I don't know what the answer is but I will agree it's all jacked up. I get so tired to paying for other peoples scams and unwillingness to actually take care of themselves.

And like the plaintiff lawyers, that’s why we paid so much for insurance. When we moved to SC our combined insurance (home, auto, umbrella etc) dropped more than 70%. Monthly full replacement coverage for our home here is $92 a month. Total bill went from north of $2k a month to $465 a month. That includes 5 cars with two children under 25 with their cars.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

That is a huge problem. I just shelled out $49K to replace my roof while others in my neighborhood went the route you described years after Irma. On one hand I feel stupid for using my own money. On the other, it just seems wrong and I couldn’t do it just because others did it.

I also understand roofers that harvest these claims jack up the price of the replacement to pay the inspectors and lawyers they get involved. So it’s not just paying for a roof it’s paying way more than it should cost. Absolutely needs to be reformed.

I had to replace my roof 6 years ago and cost me like $30k. That's a lot of money and I was making a lot less back then. I tried going to insurance adjusters and what not because the pos was also leaking every other week even after they would repair it. Ended up messing up my laminate floors (which are still messed up to this day). Eventually all the roofers refused to even try fixing it. Still not one single person came up to me and told me I could get my insurance to pay for it.

The water seems to be the biggest thing. The wind is bad, but I think a lot of the houses at least in my area are built to withstand that (not counting collateral damage like from a tree falling on the house or screened patio etc). However that flooding is scary. That would be my main consideration for getting out of there.

It seems this bitch is now coming up here. They are already sending emails telling us to get ready for power outages. Like dude... it's not even getting here as a hurricane, I think it's suppose to be a tropical depression. I guess when you have so many trees.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I had to replace my roof 6 years ago and cost me like $30k. That's a lot of money and I was making a lot less back then. I tried going to insurance adjusters and what not because the pos was also leaking every other week even after they would repair it. Ended up messing up my laminate floors (which are still messed up to this day). Eventually all the roofers refused to even try fixing it. Still not one single person came up to me and told me I could get my insurance to pay for it.

The water seems to be the biggest thing. The wind is bad, but I think a lot of the houses at least in my area are built to withstand that (not counting collateral damage like from a tree falling on the house or screened patio etc). However that flooding is scary. That would be my main consideration for getting out of there.

It seems this bitch is now coming up here. They are already sending emails telling us to get ready for power outages. Like dude... it's not even getting here as a hurricane, I think it's suppose to be a tropical depression. I guess when you have so many trees.

Yeah I’m keeping an eye on but still hopeful we won’t lose power here in Asheville and can leave on Sunday. But they aren’t prepared for this shit like FL is a real storm rolls through. Can’t really leave sooner because I’m not driving through it even as a tropical depression. Might have to home on a western route I-85 to I-75 to FL turnpike.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by PKL

really thought I wanted to buy a vacation house in FL but at this point I am pretty positive the only way I would be willing to do that is if it's in a condominium on a high floor. just dont feel like dealing with the potential headaches when I dont even live there full time and wouldnt be able to address something like this when it comes. scary shit. stay safe!

Our house is two story block construction with tile hip roof, 7 years old. Stucco exterior. We had sustained winds over 40 mph for at least 24 hours, much of that sustained over 50 mph. Gusts well over 70 mph and a lot of them. Probably 10-12 inches of rain here. High surf. We did not flood, had only one edge tile break off, no water intrusion. I washed the entire exterior this morning, picked up all of the tree fall, and helped some neighbors clean up. We were fortunate, in that while we had a strong storm we did not get the full hit SW FL got, and our storm surge was still below our dunes.

I posted that in reply because if you chose your location (less frequent storm paths, high ground, solid not sand footing, and proper construction and materials, you will be fine.

All that said, riding one out is one hell of an experience.

[2000cs]

Our HO insurance is around $2800/yr including wind, plus we bought flood just in case for another $600. Our ground floor is tile but intrusion would ruin interior walls and furnishings.

[2000cs]

Some pics. First is taken at a dune walkover just north of us. An old structure’s pilings were exposed, didn’t know that was there. So probably 3ft or more vertical of beach erosion.

Second pic from same location gives an idea of how high the water came up, from the debris deposits. Dune is about 20ft above high tide line.

Third pic is the damage to our roof. Trivial.

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

All the big insurers stopped writing policies here after Andrew in 1992. Our insurance was up to $6K when we renewed this year. I replaced a 20-year old roof and it came back down to $4k, where it was a few years ago. Insurers have been jacking up rates (partly due to insurance fraud which only gets worse with every storm and also inflation) and dropping people with older roofs. The state has an insurer of last resort but they are expensive and can’t imagine it could survive and pay claims if they covered the whole state. My guess will be a 50%+ increase next year with fewer insurers in the market. Not to bring politics into it, but one candidate for Governor claims he will “force” insurers to lower rates, which would be a neat trick if they could do that and still remain solvent.

Are most of these home owners insured from floods?

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

Are most of these home owners insured from floods?

Anyone near the coast / flood zone is required to have flood insurance if they have financing.