Insurance Companies For Homeowners In Florida

Peace of Mind

Fortunately, unlike a surprising number of high-net-worth home-owners, the couple possessed what Michael Cullen, their San Francisco-based financial advisor, calls "Cadillac insurance" - in this case, from Chartis Insurance. "In 30 minutes, the Chartis people were on site, getting everything out of the house and into storage," Cullen says.

The insurance company quickly found the couple a waterfront house nearby where they stayed for two months. Restoration of their home included replacing custom bamboo flooring throughout the condo, not just in the damaged area.

Chartis is one of a handful of insurance companies focused on the special needs of the very wealthy - the top 1% to 2% of the nation's population. However, most consumers who fall into this category "are blissfully unaware of how exposed they are" to risk, says Jerry Hourihan, national sales manager of Chartis' Private Client Group. "We estimate that three-quarters of our target customers are still buying their coverage from mass-market providers," he adds.

 

PREMIUM SERVICE

The selling point is that the very wealthy need extra service. For the price of a higher deductible, these firms promise to restore or replace the most luxurious details or valuable collectibles for premiums that average out to little or no more than the cost of mass-market policies.

The insurance policies also can be customized. "A traditional insurer would replace damages with like- or equal-kind. We'll go as far as Italy to replace marble from a particular village," says Darryl Page, president of the personal insurance division at Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.

It might seem that a house once regarded as having a multimillion-dollar valuation would be overinsured. Think again: Studies by Ace Private Risk Services show that while the market value of luxury homes may have declined from the 2007 peak, the cost of replacing a damaged property has risen with inflation. "We're preparing a lot of information about rising costs, but it's a tough sell because most people relate [replacement] value to market value," says Ace Division President Bob Courtemanche.

Florida-based HomeWise Policies Purchased by Homeowners ...

  Homeowners Choice Property and Casualty Insurance Co. announced that it has purchased HomeWise Insurance Co.’s entire Homeowners Insurance  book of business in the state of Florida. The deal, which was approved byFlorida state regulators, transfers 70,000 homeowner policies to Homeowners Choice Insurance Company. Forty percent of the policies are in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, and Broward counties. Furthermore, Homeowners Choice will be given $53 million in unearned premiums. Unearned premiums are those homeowners insurance payments which have been made to the insurance company; but the policies have not matured.  This deal has made HomeWise Choice twice as large as it already were, according to its CEO, Paresh Patel. Patel adds that the company would be able to handle this transaction with “minimal disruption” to their operations because this isn’t the company’s first transaction. “Our financial strength enabled us to satisfy the regulators and move quickly to consummate this transaction.”  Before this transaction, the Clearwater, Florida-based Homeowners Choice already gained 59,000 policyholders in Florida, representing $130 million in annual premiums, since it was founded five years ago. Two months ago, the Tampa, Florida-based HomeWise lost its only rating when the firm Demotech withdrew its rating. Hence, HomeWise lost its license to offer homeowners insurance because Florida requires every homeowners insurer to have at least one financial rating to offer its services. During the same time, HomeWise Preferred, a company related to HomeWise, was placed into state receivership when regulator discovered that it didn’t have the capacity to pay claims while in the run-off mode. Homeowners Choice still maintains a regulatory rating giving it the ability to acquire Homewise Insurance Companies Homeowners’ Policies.

-Mike 

Michael E.

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