Florida Homeowners Insurance Crisis

Florida Homeowners' Insurance Takeout Companies (continued)

6. UNIVERSAL INSURANCE CO., GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO

Takeout policies: 32,951
First licensed in Florida: 2002
Affiliate: Universal Insurance Group of Puerto Rico
Capital and surplus: $167M
Financial status: Strong capital position relative to other takeout companies.

7. HOMEWISE INSURANCE CO., PINELLAS PARK

Takeout policies: 31,654
First licensed in Florida: 2005
Affiliate: N/A
Capital and surplus: $9.5M
Financial status: Strong capital position relative to other takeout companies.

An agent told me that the Executives from HomeWise use to be with Citizens and decided to open up their own business.

8. FIRST HOME INSURANCE CO., SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN

Takeout policies: 29,957
First licensed in Florida: 2005
Affiliate: First Home Financial Corp.
Capital and surplus: $5.2M
Financial status: Meets state requirements.

9. SOUTHERN FIDELITY INSURANCE CO., TALLAHASSEE

Takeout policies: 23,067
First licensed in Florida: 2005
Affiliate: N/A
Capital and surplus: $6.2M
Financial status: Meets state requirements.

10. SECURITY FIRST INSURANCE CO., ORMOND BEACH

Takeout policies: 13,939
First licensed in Florida: 2005
Affiliate: Royal Palm Insurance Co.
Capital and surplus: $4.9M
Financial status: Meets state requirements.

11. FEDERATED NATIONAL INSURANCE CO., LAUDERDALE LAKES

Takeout policies: 13,814
First licensed in Florida: 1992
Affiliate: 21st Century Holding Co.
Capital and surplus: $11.2M
Financial status: Meets state requirements,but submitted action plan
for improving capital position
     No A.M Best rating at company request.

12. ARGUS FIRE & CASUALTY INSURANCE CO., NORTH MIAMI BEACH

Takeout policies: 11,622
First licensed in Florida: 1995
Affiliate: United Automobile Insurance Group
Capital and surplus: $6.2M
Financial status: Strong capital position. A.M. Best rating is C+
(marginal).

13. SERVICE INSURANCE CO., BRADENTON

Takeout policies: 457
First licensed in Florida: 1978
Affiliate: Bay Area Insurance Services
Capital and surplus: $10.5M
Financial status: Strong capital position. A.M. Best rating is A-
(excellent).

As usual do your research carefully. Share with us if you find any insurance news. This information was taken from The Lakeland Ledger of May 24, 2006

Many of these companies have trouble getting reinsurance, and that means that they may be in danger of liquidation.

There is an FL insurance company that will write investment property if the total insured value is NOT greater than 900,000. For a property insurance quote contact Gordon Moore, Paragon Insurance 727-576-5667

Force Placed Homeowner's Insurance

Sometimes a mortgage company or bank will send a letter saying that the insurance company that you have is rated but not accepted. That means that the insurance is not considered good enough by the mortgage holder. They will force place the insurance if you are unable to come up with an acceptable alternative for them. Note that some people have found that force placed insurance can be cheaper than the retail insurance that you can get. Balboa Pacific Insurance is one company that is used by Countrywide Mortgage that has given much cheaper premiums than Citizens.

One person seemed ecstatic that she got a notice from her mortgage company, Country Wide, that they had purchased her insurance. She said that "It's termed as hazard insurance and was only $1232 for the year!" Which was quite a difference from quote that she had from Citizens for over $5000.

However note that this coverage only covers the balance of the loan, and also no liability, loss of use or personal property coverage. Without knowing how much she owes on her home, it is hard to tell if this is a deal or not. You would have to find out how much separate liability, fire and theft, etc coverage was.

It has also been suggested that once you cancel with Citizens you cannot go back to them as they are the insurer of last resort.