News & Resources

Sometimes, an event will occur, such as a fire, which causes a significant amount of damage to a person’s home and the property in their home. After such an event, one thing a homeowner will often do is file a claim with their homeowners insurance provider to try to get financial relief for the property damage. Among the things homeowners insurance generally includes is property insurance. This type of insurance provides coverage for homeowners for certain types of property damage.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’re probably aware that an insurance policy is a contract. All the basic issues of contract law apply — including the duties of good faith and fair dealing that are implied in all contracts.

We are at the end of our discussion of an Insurance.com survey regarding some commonly-held beliefs about insurance. We showed in our last post that the respondents were fairly well-informed about the ACA.

Storm trackers are watching Hurricane Rachel make her way toward Mexico — the west coast of Mexico, that is. Floridians have no cause for worry from this storm at this time. With just a few days left in September, usually the busiest month during the Atlantic hurricane season according to the NOAA, the state has dodged the four named storms this year, apparently continuing our winning streak.

As any longtime resident of Florida can attest, 1992 to 2005 proved to be an especially brutal stretch for hurricanes as the state was hit by seven storms ranging in severity from category 3 to 5. In addition to the unimaginable human toll, these storms also caused billions of dollars in damages to homes, businesses, farmland and local infrastructure.

Another round of “take-outs” is coming for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. The state-backed insurance company has made some progress in its struggle to move policyholders to private insurers, paring down its rolls from a 2012 high of 1.4 million policyholders to today’s 933, 422. Still, there is a ways to go: Even with the take-outs scheduled to be completed by fall, Citizens will be far from its goal of 650,000-700,000 policyholders.

Most Floridians are well aware of the difference between owning a condominium and owning a single-family house. The owner of a house is responsible for everything that has to do with that property: the house and the yard, utilities, water and sewer, insurance, flood insurance … ad infinitum. The owner of a condo, however, is only responsible for maintaining the individual unit. The homeowners association takes care of the rest.

In April 2013, it rained especially hard in Chicago for two days. According to local news outlets, some areas reported as much as 6.69 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. And that was just the first round of storms.

One 83-year-old Florida mobile home owner found his homeowner’s insurance policy terminated just 10 days before the hurricane season was to begin. The homeowner was in a state of disbelief and depressed about his current circumstances. Fortunately, after inquiries were made the coverage was reinstated.

The hurricane season is around the corner, and the heavy predictions are coming in. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this week that 2014 will see normal to below normal tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic. The season officially runs from June 1 to November 30.