Increase your deductible!
Raising your deductible can make a big difference in your homeowners insurance premium. We have seen premiums cut in half by taking the maximum deductibles for both wind and other events.
It means that the policy is only valid in catastrophic circumstances, but people use the following reasoning: if a hurricane hits, the damage will be catastrophic anyway.
Some trust that in the event of a storm evacuation, they will leave all the windows and doors open so they can collect on the homeowner’s insurance policy!
Change your property policy from replacement value to actual cash value (ACV)
Citizens calculates the replacement value of your assets by halving the value of your home. So if you have a $600,000 house, they assume you have $300,000 worth of assets inside. What I did to lower my premium was specify that I wanted actual cash value instead of replacement value in case of loss and later claim. A gamble, but at this Florida insurance monopoly it was one of the ways to lower the premium, aside from specifying an outrageous deductible on the homeowner’s (HO) policy.
Find insurance brokers
You’ll want to shop around the agents. Sometimes the quote provided by one Citizens agent will be different than the quote from another. Some policyholders have saved hundreds of dollars by doing this.
For example:
I don’t know what companies (if any) are writing non-owner insurance policies in that area, but I’ve found that buying Citizens rates can make a big difference. The best Citizens quote I got for my son’s Pasco home was $3,900 here in town, but an insurance broker in Orlando got me the same policy for $2,900 using the purchase price of $134,000 compared to the value of $179,000 that local brokers were using and charging lower rates.
The broker’s name is Colleen Pacheco with Florida Insurance Planners at (407) 767-1634. You can even secure houses with knob and tube wiring! She uses Lloyds of London in the quotes I have received.
Lloyds is a surplus lines company not regulated by the state of Florida. The fees they charge are not regulated. If a surplus lines carrier were to become insolvent, the state would not be responsible for paying any claims. That protection for consumers under the Florida Insurance Guaranty Act does not apply to surplus lines carriers.
Get separate liability insurance
I’ve heard anecdotally that State Farm Insurance will do the liability cheaper than Citizens, so you have to waive it with CPIC and then go to State Farm.
If liability is a concern for you, for example if you have a lot of assets, then you need an umbrella policy. It will only cost a minimal amount, but will only cover you if there are other liability policies in force.
Driving a car is your biggest vulnerability in your asset protection strategy. Due to a careless split second along the way, you can lose everything you own in the ensuing lawsuit.
Are you overinsured?
The insurance company can sometimes overvalue a home, forcing your premium to go up. You may be able to use an appraisal to show them the proper value, thereby lowering your homeowners quote and therefore your insurance premium. Remember that an appraisal will include the value of the land, so subtract that to get the number you’ll use to persuade the insurance company how much your building is worth.
Insurance companies are usually happy to accept inflated premiums on their coverage, but are then reluctant to pay the insured amount in the event of a claim. Why pay high premiums for no profit?
Do an insurance inspection of your home
An inspector can certify that your roof is up to code and can give you a discount for having plywood shutters. There seemed to be very little difference in the discount you receive for having hurricane shutters versus plywood.
