By TONY
Published: Jul
31, 2007
Insurance questions
abound at forum
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The 58-year-old Spring
Hill resident has carried Citizens Property Insurance on his three bedroom,
two-bathroom rancher for the last five years. Like many Hernando and “In my case, they’re
talking $900,” Iele said. “That’s a pretty tempting figure.” Iele was among more
than 50 people who showed up to a town hall forum on property insurance held Monday
evening at the Palace Grand. State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and
state Rep. Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill, hosted the forum. Citizens officials were
on hand to answer queries from homeowners and help them save money in the
wake of new laws governing Citizens and the insurance industry as a whole. In the grand hall,
residents peppered the panel with questions. Out in the foyer, policyholders
like Iele crunched numbers with Citizens reps. Citizens has been the state’s
insurer of last resort, available to those who couldn’t get insured by
private companies. The legislation allows Citizens to write policies that
cover risks other than wind damage in certain areas and deleted a provision
that required the insurer to charge rates no lower than the top 20 other
insurers in the market. That allows Citizens to
compete directly with private companies, making it a viable option for many
policyholders seeking cheaper coverage, Fasano said. The legislation
repealed previously approved rate increases for Citizens and froze rates for
the next two years. Now Citizens is the
largest insurer in the state and among the largest in the country. “I’m not here to
encourage people to get into Citizens unless they can get a cheaper rate,”
Fasano told the crowd. Among the issues that
came up during meeting: Sinkhole coverage Many residents, whether
they are insured by Citizens or by one of the few remaining insurance
companies in the area, have the same choice Iele did: Elect to ditch sinkhole
coverage and get savings up to 45 percent, but risk paying for major repairs
if a sinkhole does open up underneath their homes. Catastrophic losses
from sinkholes are still covered under basic policies. A loss is deemed
catastrophic if city or county authorities deem it to be uninhabitable. “If a big sinkhole
opens up right in front of your home, the county is not going to let you stay
there,” Fasano said. It may not be an option
for those with mortgages, because some banks require sinkhole coverage. Carol Gidden, a recent
transplant to Brooksville from Though new to the area,
Gidden said she’s aware that sinkholes are less frequent in Brooksville than
in Spring Hill. “I’m going to think
about it,” she said. Outside appraisers Citizens has done
research by zip code to set replacement values for the properties the company
insures, said Paul Palumbo, senior vice-president of underwriting. “We try to make sure we
have a good understanding of what it would cost to replace a home down to the
very finite details,” he said. He said the company
factors in such costs as demolishing and removing the remnants of the
original home. “This is where Citizens
and I disagree,” Fasano said. “I think some of the replacement values they
put on homes in Fasano encouraged
policyholders to pay for an outside appraiser who will typically come in with
a lower replacement value that must be honored by Citizens. “You have to spend a
few dollars to save a lot of money,” Fasano said. Shore it up and save
money The new legislation
allows insurance companies to offer premium reductions when homeowners take
certain measures to shore up their homes against high winds. Ben Sipps, a
74-year-old Spring Hill resident, found out Monday that the roof straps
installed by the previous owner of his home and the hurricane screens he
recently put in himself will save him $400 a year on his Citizens policy. Other structures One resident asked
about the need to insure structures on his property other than his home. Citizens will now offer
more options for such buildings, allowing policyholders to reduce the amount
of coverage on the structures or to opt out of coverage altogether, Palumbo
said. The company is working
to allow policyholders to “customize coverage” to get the most for their
money, he said. “It’s all going to build
together so you have many, many options to choose from and a wide variety of
coverage and premiums,” he said. Rate increases,
switching policies There are fewer
insurance companies remaining in “Sadly, we’re seeing
the same companies file for rate increases, and it’s outrageous and can’t be
tolerated,” Fasano said. Fasano said the state
Office of Insurance Regulation is denying rate hike requests whenever possible.
Christine Turner,
director of communications and legislative affairs for Citizens, said
policyholders seeking to switch to Citizens can get a quote starting 30 days
before their current policy expires. Reporter Tony Marrero
can be contacted at 352-544-5286. |