Increase your deductible!
Increasing your deductible can make a huge difference to your homeowner’s insurance premium. We have seen premiums halved by taking the maximum deductibles for both wind and other events.
It method that the policy is only good in extreme circumstances, but people are using the following reasoning: if a hurricane hits, the damage will be extreme anyway.
Some are confiding that in the event of evacuating for a storm, that they will leave all their windows and doors open, so that they can truly cash in on the homeowner’s insurance policy!
Change the policy on your goods from substitute value to Actual Cash Value (ACV)
Citizens calculates the substitute value of your goods by halving the value of your home. So if you have a $600,000 home, they assume you have $300,000 worth of goods inside it. What I did to reduce my premium was to specify I wanted actual cash value instead of substitute value in the event of a loss and later claim. A gamble, but in this Florida insurance monopoly it was one of the ways to get the premium down, in addition to specifying an outrageous deductible on your homeowner’s (HO) policy.
Shop around for insurance brokers
You will want to shop around agents. Sometimes the quote that one Citizens agent provides will be different to the quote from another. Some insureds have saved hundreds of dollars by doing this.
For example:
I don’t know which (if any) carriers are writing non-owner occupied insurance policies in that area, but I did find that shopping 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 by using the $134,000 buy price versus the $179,000 value local brokers were using, and charging lower fees.
The broker’s name is Colleen Pacheco with Florida Insurance Planners at (407) 767-1634. She may already be able to insure homes with knob and tube wiring! She uses Lloyds of London in the quotes I have gotten.
Lloyds is a surplus lines carrier not regulated by the state of Florida. The rates they are charging are not regulated. If a surplus lines carrier were to go insolvent then the state would not take over 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 have heard anecdotally that State Farm Insurance will do liability cheaper than Citizens, so you should 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 other liability policies are in effect.
Driving a car is your biggest vulnerability in your asset protection strategy. Due to a divided second of inattention on the road, you can lose everything you own in the consequent law suit.
Are you over insured?
The insurance company may sometimes overvalue a home which forces up your premium. You may be able to use an appraisal to demonstrate to them the appropriate value and consequently reduce your homeowner’s quote and consequently your insurance premium. Remember that an appraisal will include land value so subtract that out in order to come up with the figure that you are going to use to persuade the insurance company how much your building is worth.
Insurance companies are usually happy to accept inflated premiums on your coverage, but are then reluctant to pay out the amount insured in the event of a claim. Why pay high premiums for no gain?
Have 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. seemingly there was very little difference in the the discount you receive for having hurricane shutters versus plywood.