Another sign of Florida’s troubled property insurance market popped up this week as Windhaven Insurance alerted employees and agents that it is winding down and its assets are being foreclosed on by their lender who will eventually sell the company to another insurer. Windhaven’s problems extend beyond Florida, Windhaven National Insurance Co. which is a […]
North End of Palm Beach, Florida, aerial view of the inlet and what locals call Peanut Island, and the Port of Palm Beach If you live in South Florida and are not carrying flood insurance, you may be required to change that soon. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently changing flood maps for […]
Homeowner insurance rates for many Florida homeowners will continue to rise next year, despite the fact that reforms were put in place last spring to help curtail Assignment of Benefits (AOB) lawsuits brought by contractors and their attorney partners. Unfortunately, instead of heading down, the number of lawsuits filed against insurance companies has actually increased […]
A recent AAA survey found that Floridians are becoming more concerned about this year’s hurricane season after four major storms have hit in the past three years, the worst of which was a category five storm last year. Recent storms, Florence, Michael, Harvey, Irma and Maria have caused $200 billion in damages according to Floodsmart.gov. […]
Florida residents may see their homeowners insurance rates go down in the near future as the Governor recently signed an assignment of benefits (AOB) reform into law. This was one of the most heavily lobbied bills in the 2019 session, but it managed to survive and be signed into law. An AOB is when a […]
Finally, some good news for Florida homeowners when it comes to the cost to insure their homes. Sunshine State residents have seen their insurance premiums go up dramatically over the last decade. In fact, according to Insurance.com, Florida has the most expensive homeowners insurance premiums in the country with an average premium of $3,575. If […]
While the assignment of benefits (AOB) form is a pretty standard practice in the United States insurance industry, rampant fraud in Florida has led to a shocking increase in the number of AOB filings over the past decade. An AOB contract signs over your insurance benefits to a third party such as a contractor or […]
Recently, the Restoration Association of Florida (RAF) responded to two bills moving through the Florida Legislature that could affect the assignment of benefits (AOB) process. RAF stands in opposition to the bills (SB 122 and HB 7065), saying they fail to address the needs of both homeowners and contractors. RAF hosted a panel of attorneys, […]
Homeowners that have a mortgage on their home are required to carry homeowners insurance in order to protect the invest their mortgage lender has made in their home but once that mortgage is paid off, homeowners are free to dump their insurance. Unfortunately, thousands of people in Florida have made the decision to drop their […]
Florida legislators are looking into one-way attorney fees that have been one of the sources of inflated homeowners claims related to the Assignment of Benefits (AOB) issue that many people blame for the Sunshine States high homeowner insurance costs. Currently, Florida is the most expensive state in the country for homeowners insurance with the average […]