Florida health insurance

Living on the coast definitely has its upside. Spontaneous visits to the beach, picnics, and leisure time on the beach is something you’d be able to do all the time. You can’t avoid the dangers that come with living on the beach. Florida is a state which is prone to natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, windstorms and tornados, with floods being the primary cause of destruction in this state.

If you’ve been thinking about moving to Florida, we can tell you about some of the top cities which are the best at flood control and have minimized flood risk. A ranking was determined for the top 5 flood safe cities in Florida based on flood insurance rates, costs and reconstruction value.

The top 5 cities fit to be called flood-safe in Florida are:

1.     Fort Lauderdale, FL

Fort Lauderdale faces similar threats like its neighbor, Miami; however, it has taken a lot of different steps to reduce the threats. They have drain valves for diverting flooding and have secured a high rating on Federal Emergency Management.

2.     Miami, FL

Miami has avidly avoided hurricanes and flooding, and since 1964, Miami has not been directly hit from a hurricane. It has an impeccable flood management system and you’re also able to enjoy the great night life, beaches, and culture.

3.     St. Petersburg, FL

Known as the sunshine City, it has no flood events recorded since 2004. They have complied with the NFIP guideline to prevent floods and also allows residents 20% discount on flood insurance.

4.     Cape Coral, FL

It has the highest community rating score and has received a Storm Ready Status which means it is able to prepare well for an upcoming storm, minimizing danger.

5.     Jacksonville, FL

The city has safely avoided recent floods, has proper flood management controls in place, and is also a part of the NIFP.

Jacksonville, Florida -- We know that homeowners insurance carriers in Florida are having a tough time keeping rates in check.  We all anticipate a New Year with new home insurance rates.  Most likely this is due to the high amount of natural disasters that have occurred in Florida and around the country. 

Many homeowners in Florida jumped on the band wagon moving to Citizens Property Insurance Company because they were the last carrier standing to offer coverage.  The state of Florida recently approved a 10.8 percent increase in premiums for 2013.   Florida’s Insurance Commissioner called the increases necessary, as we need to move over to “actuarially supported rates.”

State Farm Insurance Company is the third largest home insurance company doing business in Fl.  They were just approved for a 6.9% increase for upcoming renewals.  State Farm still has nearly 1.4 million policies on the books in Florida even though they stopped selling new policies many years ago. 

It looks like you will be shopping for more than Christmas presents this Holiday Season.  A review of your home insurance policy might be on Santa’s list as well. 

Read More Here:  http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=167021

Florida’s Governor, Mr. Rick Scott, alongside many other lawmakers in Tallahassee Florida this week, have announced they are going to implement better programs to make sure residents of Florida are better prepared to understand many of the costs linked with homeowners insurance.  They really want to educate the public to understand that Florida might be one large “Sandy” like storm away from a major home insurance catastrophe.

Scott was quoted saying that solid efforts should ensure that Florida home insurance policyholders are better aware that the state is doing everything possible to help strengthen the house market industry in the Sunshine state.

He pointed out that these educational programs will probably cause higher assessments across the spectrum when the state-backed insurers are not really capable of producing and meeting its claims payments requirements in the future.

The survey conducted offered that more than 80 percent of homeowners insurance customers in Florida have no clue that possible assessments are lingering in the near future. 

These consumers don’t completely understand that if the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and Citizens Property Insurance Corp. find themselves unable with to pay claims after a major storm hits either Florida coast, that it will be the policyholders that are charged large assessments.

We all know the struggles many insurance companies have had over the years in Florida.  There is a great deal of controversy over making the proper changes necessary to Citzens and private insurers.  This all being connected to the ability to offer affordable homeowners insurance to a state where 80 percent or more of the residents live within hurricane prone areas.  What should we do to fix this problem?

Tampa Florida - The numbers are in and overall contentment with home insurance companies are the highest they have been in years.  J.D. Power and Associates reports that due to the exercise of bundling multiple insurance polices like your home and auto insurance, consumers are happier than they have ever been.  Saving time and money is always going to make a consumer happy, wouldn't you say?

J.D. used a 1,000 point scale to discover customer satisfaction.  The overall averages for this year over close to 800, so nearly 80% of all home insurance consumers are happy with their coverages.  This number has risen over 15 percentage points from the previous year according to J.D.  Power. 

Furthermore, the contentment goes up close to 20 percentage points with the consumers who bundle multiple polices like their home and auto with the same insurance company.  This information was based on a National Homeowners Insurance Study conducted by the larger research firm. 

“The increase in satisfaction with policy offerings is directly related to customer perceptions that insurers are doing a better job in offering the right coverage options at competitive prices when policies are bundled,” said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “Bundled policies not only may provide a reduced premium for customers, but may also be advantageous to both parties, as it allows customers to interact with a single insurer, potentially streamlining both billing and payment.”

We all know that auto is the most bundled type of policy with homeowners insurance and the study did find a direct relationship between bundling and customer contentment.  Contentment among consumers that insure only their home with their homeowners insurer is near the low 700's within the 1,000 point scale. Nevertheless, when an additional product is bundled (typically the auto policy), satisfaction increases to nearly the mark of 800.  When four or more products are bundled with the insurance company, contentment grows to nearly 900.

With all of that being said, J.D. Power and Associates makes a great point with this survey.  In most markets you are able to bundle multiple policies from the same insurance company, which helps you save time and money.  The issue with this survey is that it doesn't reflect all markets in the Untied States.  Take for instance, the Tampa, Florida marketplace, where the majority of homeowners buy their auto and home insurance from separate companies because the big franchise carriers like State Farm and Allstate do not offer home insurance policies in this state because of the risk.  What do you think?  Does this accurately reflect your marketplace?  I know it doesn't in Florida.  Give us your thoughts today!