Insurance policy expiring soon but I have damage from Ian Steven Turpyn asked 2 years ago
Insurance policy expiring soon but I have damage from Ian

I have quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Ian to my house. I filed a claim with my insurance company and filed a claim with FEMA already. My insurance company sent me a letter earlier this year saying they were not going to renew my insurance because my roof was old. My insurance policy expires in less than 1 month, on November 22nd. I got quotes for a new roof so I could get new insurance already but the hurricane hit before I could get the work done. I also have other damage to metal, trim, screens, A screened in porch, a screen door trees, etc. and a shed was completely destroyed.

My question is what happens when my insurance runs out next month? There is no way I’ll get the damage repaired before my policy runs out so how do I get insurance with all of this damage to my house? Can the mortgage company cancel my mortgage because I can’t get insurance due to hurricane damage? If the insurance company doesn’t give me enough to get the damage fixed I’ll have to escalate the claim which takes even more time, so at what point am I going to lose my house?

Thank you for any help you can give me understanding my rights here.

Steve

1 Answers
Amy Bach Amy Bach Staff answered 2 years ago
0 Vote Up Vote Down

Hi Steve. We’re sorry to hear that your home was damaged in Hurricane Ian and empathize with your worrying, but hopefully your current insurer will pay what they owe and you’ll get a replacement policy in place. If you can connect with a good agent or broker in your area, that will be helpful, as the Florida home insurance marketplace is tricky to navigate. Try using: https://uphelp.org/buying-tips/picking-a-good-insurance-agent-or-broker/ but we suggest you read our tips first – as word of mouth in your area may be the best way to find a pro-active agent who is managing to stay in business despite the challenging marketplace conditions.

You should solicit quotes from a few insurance companies, but given current conditions in Florida, it’s likely you’ll need to get your replacement policy through Citizens Property Insurance Company – https://www.citizensfla.com/get-a-policy. Try using this tool to shop: https://choices.fldfs.com/pandc/homeowners?ga=2.54817449.345370008.1624854079-1506397112.1613684640, and this tool: https://www.fmap.org/ and please circle back with UP to let us know how you fare getting a replacement policy. If you don’t replace your coverage on your own, your mortgage company can’t cancel your mortgage. However, once they get the coverage expiration notice from your current insurer, the mortgage lender will probably arrange for a "forced-place" (also called "lender-placed") policy to be put on the home. We strongly encourage consumers to get a regular policy in place – forced/lender placed policies are very expensive and provide very little coverage. They increase your mortgage debt and are generally a bad deal.