Citizen's wind-only reapply?

I do know someone else who is going through the process right now. Biggest stumbling block for him at the moment is finding a licensed roofer to do the required inspection. If you know one please post the name.

Well, that's nice. The letter doesn't say anything about required inspections.

So, Tree Frog - can I take this to mean they are not requiring roof inspections from everyone? There was no roof form included with your letter that requires a signature from a licensed roofing contractor?? Maybe you had some sort of inspection in the recent past? Or maybe age of the house is a factor?

So, Tree Frog - can I take this to mean they are not requiring roof inspections from everyone? There was no roof form included with your letter that requires a signature from a licensed roofing contractor?? Maybe you had some sort of inspection in the recent past? Or maybe age of the house is a factor?

You always disclose the year your house was built. I'm betting that your home is older than treefrogs. ;-)

1999

So, Tree Frog - can I take this to mean they are not requiring roof inspections from everyone? There was no roof form included with your letter that requires a signature from a licensed roofing contractor?? Maybe you had some sort of inspection in the recent past? Or maybe age of the house is a factor?

Answers, in order:
1-I don't know.
2-Nope, no form
3-No inspections since I bought in 2005
4-The letter does say that old houses or some specific types of roof may have more difficulty qualifying for new coverage.

I woulda thunk a whole lotta folks beside me got this letter. Sure doesn't seem to be much response here on SoWal, though.

Thanks. It is not my house, a friend of mine, but yes it is an older house. Same friend has a couple of other houses and no letter for them yet. It appears the letters are going out a couple of months in advance of the policy renewal date, so as renewal dates approach more people will be getting the letters, I think. And since it is wind only, I guess that means if your Citizens policy is both homeowners and wind the reapplication process doesn't apply.

I got a letter. And I smell a rat! What's the need to "discontinue" just to ensure that the homeowner has "sufficient coverage." My expiration date is May 5th of '09. My Agent also wrote me to say that nearer to the expiration, I would hear from him again. I smell a rat! (Oh, already said that.)

I woulda thunk a whole lotta folks beside me got this letter. Sure doesn't seem to be much response here on SoWal, though.

Yep, I got one too, just before the holidays. Actually, I received one for both properties, one house built in 2004 and one built in the 1960's, but the roof is only 7 years old. I had to fill out a questionaire and they said they would be contacting me. My policies expire June 1, 2009.

Citizens has been threatening to drop my older beach house for the last couple years, though it hasn't happened yet.

Makes life a little more interesting in the off season.

i'm in the process of buying a home and have spent i bet 25 hrs on the phone with 30 different brokers and the state of fla ins dept. my house was built after 2003 so i get all the huge wind mitigation discounts.here's a summary. to get wind coverage and hazard coverage on one policy you almost always must go with a much smaller company many of which have been in business for less than 2-3 years. very very scary since the state only backs up to 300k of loses if one of these companies goes under.so i went with a big hazard co and citizens for wind. my premium is 1k more than a small no name company. so till i can sort things out i wanted a bigger company in case a hurricaine hits. DAMMIT THE STATE FARMS AND ALLSTATE NEED TO COME BACK

I got one, too, and my policy is only for the interior of my townhouse, since the exterior is covered through the association. The association probably got one about the roof. I'm smelling yet another special assessment for the roof and an insurance rate increase.

i'm in the process of buying a home and have spent i bet 25 hrs on the phone with 30 different brokers and the state of fla ins dept. my house was built after 2003 so i get all the huge wind mitigation discounts.here's a summary. to get wind coverage and hazard coverage on one policy you almost always must go with a much smaller company many of which have been in business for less than 2-3 years. very very scary since the state only backs up to 300k of loses if one of these companies goes under.so i went with a big hazard co and citizens for wind. my premium is 1k more than a small no name company. so till i can sort things out i wanted a bigger company in case a hurricaine hits. DAMMIT THE STATE FARMS AND ALLSTATE NEED TO COME BACK

State Farm can rot in hell for all I care. Although I'm sure they'll be back to swipe more money and then disappear after a major crisis. I guess having a large company that will leave you high and dry consistently is better than a small company with no track record of the same thing?

i've been with state farm 32 years and had a 16k hail claim and it was paid in hrs. i've had car wrecks paid in a day. never one single problem period. it was a business decision to leave florida. YOU DON'T THINK THESE LOW BALL BEEN IN BUSINESS 2 YEAR INSURANCE CO'S WILL HIGH TAIL IT WHEN EVEN A SMALL STORM HITS? THINK AGAIN.i sold health insurance for 10 years and i saw what these scum low ball premium new co's did. they ruined 1000's of lives by sucking people in with low premiums then shutting the company down when claims came in leaving sick people with no ability to get coverage else were

i've been with state farm 32 years and had a 16k hail claim and it was paid in hrs. i've had car wrecks paid in a day. never one single problem period. it was a business decision to leave florida. YOU DON'T THINK THESE LOW BALL BEEN IN BUSINESS 2 YEAR INSURANCE CO'S WILL HIGH TAIL IT WHEN EVEN A SMALL STORM HITS? THINK AGAIN.i sold health insurance for 10 years and i saw what these scum low ball premium new co's did. they ruined 1000's of lives by sucking people in with low premiums then shutting the company down when claims came in leaving sick people with no ability to get coverage else were

I stand by my statement. If you still disagree head over to Biloxi and rave about the high quality of State Farm.

no doubt many of the ins co's from state farm to all state did what they could to limit the claims. but the small co's would have closed shop in days and high tailed it. so the guy with a $2 mil house that was insured with a small co would have gotten zero from his co. in the end state settled with most . hey all insurance sucks but its the worse of all evils

Thanks. It is not my house, a friend of mine, but yes it is an older house. Same friend has a couple of other houses and no letter for them yet. It appears the letters are going out a couple of months in advance of the policy renewal date, so as renewal dates approach more people will be getting the letters, I think. And since it is wind only, I guess that means if your Citizens policy is both homeowners and wind the reapplication process doesn't apply.

My Citizen's policy is wind only. My letter is 6 months in advance, and says there will be contact from my agent or another letter about 2 months ahead of renewal. Guess that's when they will get specific and send the applications, etc.

This letter seemed to indicate that they were giving advance notice so you could act now if you have a shingle roof over 25 years old, any roof over 50 years old, or if the covered building is located on property away from your home.

I'll call my agent in the next week or two and get a better explanation - will post what I hear.

Citizens Re-writes and Rate Increases- THE SCOOP

I got one, too, and my policy is only for the interior of my townhouse, since the exterior is covered through the association. The association probably got one about the roof. I'm smelling yet another special assessment for the roof and an insurance rate increase.

Hey, folks I happen to own one of the logcal insurance agencies. Every Citiznes policy holder will get a letter this year. Citizens is changing their policy form to a univerasally used form. They are also changing their computer operating system. They have decided that they want new applications on renewal of all policies to assure accurate data. For most policy holders it is red tape only. There are some NEW coverage issues and some folks may have to document things like the roof updates being discussed, but for most just the hassle of having to get with your agent and submitting a new application.
(THERE ARE NO RATE INCREASES IN 2009 BY LEGISLATIVE ORDER)..

I'll be posting more insurance info for review this year, so if you have a question, please ask.

A rat is right. I live in Miami Shores (southern florida), east of Interstate 95. My house was built in 1938, 1800 square feet. Due to this re-application scam, my hause was reaccessed from $192,000 total rebiuld cost to $298,000. my preumium increased from $2,400 to $4,200 for wind only coverage. so basically this a loophole for citizens to increase premiums and deductibles.

I posted a message last week and I am new at Sowal, but a few FACTS about the Citizens letters. Every Citizens policy holder is getting this letter. Citizens is changing it's coverage forms and computer system and has decided to UPDATE its data on exisitng policy holders by requiring us ALL to reapply on renewal. Some policy holders may be required to provide evidence of updates such as new roof dates etc. , but for most just the hassle of having to work with our agents to complete the new applications and update contact information etc. THERE WILL BE NO rate increase in 2009 by legislative order. Some premiums actually may go down again due to the updated information may result in discounts that were not available when we first became policy holders.

There will actually be three notices sent to every Citizens policy holder, I believe it is 120 days, 90 days and 60 days prior reminding us to contact our Citizens agent. Fortunately or unfortunately I am a Citizens agent with about 4,000 Citizens clients so the challenge of completing new applications is somewhat challenging, but we are hopeful that the requirement will ultimately be of benefit to our clients as a whole.

Insured Value Increase

A rat is right. I live in Miami Shores (southern florida), east of Interstate 95. My house was built in 1938, 1800 square feet. Due to this re-application scam, my hause was reaccessed from $192,000 total rebiuld cost to $298,000. my preumium increased from $2,400 to $4,200 for wind only coverage. so basically this a loophole for citizens to increase premiums and deductibles.

If your house is 1,800 square feet and Citizens is requiring $298,000 in coverage, this needs to be addressed. Your policy requires you to insure to replacement cost but if you disagree with their estimate of replacement cost, you have options. If you think you are over insured, I would not sit in silence. You need to address this by confirmaiton of actual replacement cost.
IF you need help, let me know.

It is not a paperwork issue, it is a 'find a way to raise premiums and find another way to deny people insurance issue'. A computer upgrade doesn't mean you start asking policyholders in good standing new questions about their home construction. :roll: