Home Insurance Premiums Skyrocketing

The following article was posted to MySuncoast.com website on July 11, 2011:

Home Insurance Premiums Skyrocketing

By Linda Carson

In these days when people feel they’ve cut their spending and tightened their belts to the limit, here comes another financial blow. Most Florida residents are seeing their home insurance premiums skyrocket.

Insurance companies went to the state and asked for an increase and got it, so you can expect your home insurance to go up about 18% this year. You can also be sure it won’t stop there.

“It can hurt a lot of people, including us. We’re retired and it’ll be tough,” says homeowner Bob Zimmer.

If you need wind, flood or hurricane coverage, Citizens is going up 10% in our area. Homeowners are asking why, we haven’t had a hurricane in years.

“We’re paying the price for someone else for things that happened yet. Where they’re having for storms in other parts of the county and I think we’re paying the price for that,” says homeowner Scott Dunlap.

That is true says Mary Dakkak at Dakkak Insurance Company. They represent a large number of a rated companies selling home insurance. “There are a lot of other catastrophes that are happening. People are thinking we haven’t had any hurricanes in 5 years, but we are having a lot of other claims that are happening, like sinkhole claims, water damage claims. So all these claims take a big part in our pool of risk with the insurance companies.”

There are a lot of insurance companies to choose from and their rates are very, very different. One insurance company may be better for you and another may be better for another neighborhood. Be sure you check them all out before you sign on the dotted line.

Also make sure you are receiving all of the discounts. “Being in a gated community, being retired, some companies are offering extra discounts out there. They are offering certain plumping discounts.”

So shop around. There are still ways to save. You may just have to dig deep to find them.

“The insurance companies are not the best friends of the people in Florida right now.”

Dakkak says don’t choose a company just because it has the cheapest premium. Check it out to make sure it is financially sound, and it will be able pay if trouble does strike.

She says you can check on a company yourself at www.demotech.com.

Find this article here  http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/story/Home-insurance-premiums-skyrocketing/ALmZo3i56kmEhr7h8W-zuA.cspx