Like a bad neighbor...State Farm hits customers with up to triple digit increases in FL!

[sixmile]

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2011/06/state_farm_policyholders_repor_1.html

snip

'Here is a sampling of premium increases for State Farm policyholders in South Florida:

A 280 percent increase to $8,524 from $2,246 for Gerald Meit, a retired pharmacist in Weston with a 22-year-old, 4-bedroom house complete with a hip roof and shutters. Meit said he has purchased insurance from State Farm for more than 50 years, with no claims. When he heard regulators approved a rate hike, he braced for an increase. But he said he was shocked when he received his renewal notice.

"We were expecting some kind of increase, but even if it doubled, that’s less than what they’re asking," he said. “It looks like they don’t want us. It looks like they’re blowing us off with this kind of increase."

His agent plans to visit the home next week to see if there is a way to help lower the premium. Meit said he was told the increase is due in part to the statewide rate hike and a reduction in the hurricane-proofing discounts he was receiving.

A 181 percent increase, to $5,537 from $1,972 the year before, for John Hutelin, a pilot who lives in a 2,100 square-foot, 4 bedroom house in Plantation. It’s about 30 years old, according to Broward County property data.

He said he has never filed a claim in the 25 years that he has been insured by State Farm and he now plans to drop his automobile policy with the company as well.

Hutelin said the insurer said the increase is partly due to an inspection the company did of his home that found the concrete walls include some wood. He said since the walls are all concrete, the company is referring to three wood gables at the ends of his home.

A 166 percent increase to $6,575 from $2,474 for Steven, a retiree in Coral Springs resident, who has not yet provided his last name. He said he spoke with his agent, who said the company is "playing catch up" after being denied rate increases in years past.

"How can State Farm justify" it? he asked McCarty in an email. "That's outrageous."


more at link

[MineralMan]

1. Oh, indeed...

[lpbk2713]

2. Jeb Bush was the insurance cos best friend.

And now it will get much worse under Rick Scott and the stacked deck AKA the Florida House and Senate.

[villager]

3. I guess one good thing about global warming - insurance companies will eventually go out of business

Basically, as weather becomes less stable, more and more disasters will happen, forcing more and more claims.

Insurance companies -- during our ongoing, Peak Oil-connected, long term Depression -- will desperately keep ratcheting up rates on people both in "disaster" areas and outside (to pay for CEO bonuses, their usual profits, etc.)

And fewer and fewer people will be able to afford those premiums, thus giving them up.

And finally shrinking the insurance company's "customer" base ("customer" in quotes because traditionally, it implied a two-way relationship) to the point where... the corporate cash- extracting model is no longer viable!

[Kolesar]

5. Lame...eom

[villager]

11. your one-word thoughtless reply? Absolutely!... eom

[littlewolf]

4. My MIL had to drop her insurance .....

she owns her home .... she just could not afford it .....

[sixmile]

6. At least she had a choice to drop

If the bank owns you home you must insure, which is preposterous since THEY own the property. Why don't the banks insure????

[onethatcares]

13. here's the deal.

if you have a mortgage, you have to have homeowners insurance to provide for full reconstruction of the home. You can't just insure it for the balance of the loan and let's say 125K. It's gotta be all or nothing.

and prickscott has gotten his head so far up his ass that he'll let any corporation do anything in wants in the name of "making Florida business friendly"

This state is a fucking joke anymore.

[Kolesar]

7. Justify it? It's due to those hurricanes and tornadoes you keep getting

If you don't want natural disasters, move to Michigan.

[sixmile]

10. I moved FROM Michigan

We haven't had a major hurricane here in six years, and not many tornadoes (and no blizzards!)

[NNN0LHI]

12. The country's 10th deadliest tornado was in Michigan

http://www.michiganradio.org/post/joplin-tornado-surpasses-death-toll-michigans-worst-tornado

Joplin tornado surpasses death toll of Michigan's worst tornado

By Mark Brush

The 1953 Flint-Beecher Tornado killed 116 people in a community just north of Flint. The F5 tornado is listed as the country's 10th deadliest tornado by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.

[RockaFowler]

8. When you let the industry regulate itself . . .

This is what happens. This state is an absolute joke. And none of us can move because we owe too much on the houses we currently owe. What a vicious circle they have us in here

[madrchsod]

9. Florida is a goldmine for insurance companies.

0 regulations on the industry,a state that is failing to rebuild it`s infrastructure,rising sea level, and stronger hurricanes.

the international insurance underwriters made their decision several years ago to raise their rates to companies that insure coastal areas around the world.