Insurance issues hindering Gulf Coast recovery

too bad

This is very sad, I do feel for them. While I do think the insurance company's are crook's I also understand they have to make money they lost in paying out billions of dollars after the hurricane and they know they will have to pay it out again when it happens again. So if they don't charge it there they will have to raise the rates across the rest of the country

Another problem is that most insurers have pulled out of the Gulf coast area, which has eliminated competition and driven up prices as well. Homeowners insurance pays for wind damage, while flood insurance pays for water damage. A big issue with hurricane damage is which policy should pay, and many homeowners don't bother to buy the flood insurance, but expect their homeowners insurance to compensate them. The reality is that damage from a hurricane usually results from both wind and flood, which leads to legal battles between the homeowner and his/her insurance provider(s).

Once again our insurance companies control us. It is not just homeowners insurance, it is all insurance companies. They tell us whether we can live or die. I wonder how many people, who work for these insurance companys, have the same problems as we have? I would like to know how many agents lost their homes and if they have them back or do they have the same problem?

I have relatives in Florida. They have had their homeowners insurance canceled even though they never filed a claim. The state of Floirda is now financially backing (subsidizing) insurance providers. I'm so sick of insurance companies!

Nothing but a bunch of crooks. They'll take your $ without a problem, but good luck getting them to pay anything.

Anybody stupid enough to rebuild in a city that is below sea level, and expects everything is supposed to stay the same, is crazy. I'm getting sick and tired of subsidizing people that want to have the "good life", but don't want to pay for it out of their pocket. Tear the whole town down!

be fair and pay up

I used to live in Florida...Some of the houses and businesses are built on nothing but a sand spit...no I would'nt insure them either. An I shouldn't have to pay more for my insurance to potect the very few who are foolish enough to build in a flood zone. If it's in a food zone, I don't think it should be built on. Put in more green space along the water front where everyone can enjoy the water front.

John wrote:

This is very sad, I do feel for them. While I do think the insurance company's are crook's I also understand they have to make money they lost in paying out billions of dollars after the hurricane and they know they will have to pay it out again when it happens again. So if they don't charge it there they will have to raise the rates across the rest of the country

this is a myth, the insurance companies need to pay up and pay up now. they use the bush loopholes he set up to take advantage of the poor. don't worry he will pay come judgement day.

Dawn wrote:

I used to live in Florida...Some of the houses and businesses are built on nothing but a sand spit...no I would'nt insure them either. An I shouldn't have to pay more for my insurance to potect the very few who are foolish enough to build in a flood zone. If it's in a food zone, I don't think it should be built on. Put in more green space along the water front where everyone can enjoy the water front.

Considerable property damage resulting from Ivan and Katrina occurred to property not located in flood zones. We pay more for homeowners insurance for everyone at risk, including damages from tornadoes, river flooding, mudslides, fires, earthquakes, etc. Everyone is at risk, and not just folks who live in coastal areas.

Insurance ??

What insurance ??

When you need it, or try to use it fairly, it disappears !!
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oops wrong story, sorry....

sorry

Why should my house insurance go up here in Knoxville so that some idiot can live in a house on the ocean. You got your ocean home, you pay for the risk of living there with very high insurance. Don't cry when the next storm hits, you know that storm will come eventually. Just the risk of living on the ocean.

Retired wrote:

Why should my house insurance go up here in Knoxville so that some idiot can live in a house on the ocean. You got your ocean home, you pay for the risk of living there with very high insurance. Don't cry when the next storm hits, you know that storm will come eventually. Just the risk of living on the ocean.

For the very same reason that one's house insurance on the coast is impacted by some person living in Tennessee whose home is destroyed by a tornado. You have your mountain home with the risk of living there with risks from tornadoes, fires, earthquakes, with relative low insurance prices. Don't cry when the next tornado hits; you know it'll come eventually. It's just a risk of living in Tennessee.

What do you expect when you build a home below sea-level. Sure don't need a college degree to figure that one out.

Insurance companies saw record profits the year after katrina, look it up. They were accepting premiums for decades sometimes more than $15,000 a year and paid nothing to those homeowners. Then decide to increase rates 400% and cancel policies. Other than New Orleans(with complicated levee system) no place in the U.S. is below sea level, you don't need a college degree to understand below sea level is underwater.We had a 40 foot wave hit one of the most important port cities in our country and you are saying "tear it down".In the 300 years of recorded history here it has NEVER flooded, yet every spring countless interior US cities are submerged.This is all Mother Nature and people certainly have the right to live where they choose.People are willing to pay the price to live here we are already doing it at 400 times pre-katrina rates,I just believe the companies that take that money agree to provide a service if not they are thieves.