Cornerstone Insurance

Citizens Insurance of Florida Removing Valuable Coverage From Policies

jbutts — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:08:58 +0000

Starting January 1st for all new business and renewals, Citizens Insurance Company of Florida is removing coverage for all policy holders. In what many insiders see as a “first round” of coverage reduction, any structure attached or detached on the insured premises with different non- roof like material similar to that of the primary dwelling is being removed. This means screen pool enclosures or lanais, pergola’s, enclosed porches made of tin or other similar roofing will have zero coverage from any peril.

Because of the economy, both legislators and executive branch leaders have been reluctent to pass any measure that would directly raise the rates of Citizens. However, this backdoor method of stripping coverage may start the ball rolling for again making Citizens the insurance company of last resort.

The official memo sent to agents Nov. 3rd 2011 said the following:

The following changes apply to personal residential renewal policies with effective dates on or after:

Personal residential multiperil (PR-M): January 1, 2012
Personal residential wind-only (PR-W): February 1, 2012

Citizens no longer will provide Coverage A or B for the following structures whether attached to the dwelling or not:

•Screened enclosures that are aluminum framed or not covered by the same or substantially the same materials as that of the primary dwelling
•Carports that are aluminum or not covered by the same or substantially the same materials as that of the primary dwelling
•Patios that have a roof covering not constructed of the same or substantially the same materials as that of the primary dwelling
•Awnings
•Structures with a roof or wall covering that are thatch, lattice, slats or a similar material
•Slat houses, chickees, tiki huts, gazebos, cabanas, canopies, pergolas or similar structures constructed to be open to the weather

Any of the above structures that currently are scheduled under Coverage B – Other Structures will have their increased limits and coverage amounts removed at renewal.

If you are with Citizens Insurance and would like a quote with a private market carrier who will be there for you when you need them, please call me at 1-877-277-2715 or email me at jbutts@livecovered.com for a no obligation quote. We look forward to serving your insurance needs.

Joshua Butts | Founder/Agent at Cornerstone Insurance, Inc.

Top FIVE Reasons Your New Florida Homeowners Insurance Policy May be Cancelled.

jbutts — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:36:00 +0000

Here is what you need to know if you purchase homeowners insurance. Florida residents face some of the highest homeowners insurance rates in the nation, and the hardest underwriting when it comes to policy acceptance. Almost all homeowners insurance companies Florida residents have access to will complete an onsite inspection within the first 90 days after the policy effective date. For homeowners insurance Tampa, Orlando or Central Florida residents are purchasing, the rigorous underwriting process will apply as well. Below are the Top Five reasons your policy may be cancelled within the first 90 days after your insurance agent binds coverage.

5. Property is in generally poor condition.

Inspectors will look for how well you maintain the home. If the home needs paint, the lawn needs to be mowed and the trees are overhanging the roof or other structures, this is a red flag to the insurance company underwriter. Poor condition may lead an insurer to think you are in financial trouble. This increases the chance of damage to the home. Insurance company underwriters want to feel warm and fuzzy about signing off on the issuance of a new policy. Keeping up the property curb appeal will help insure your Florida homeowners insurance policy will not be set to cancel.

4. Home is Under Construction of Heavy Renovation

Most homeowners insurance companies Florida buyers have to choose from understand there are things you will want to do to improve your home after you close. You may want to paint the walls, change out fixtures and maybe even put in new cabinets. Most underwriters understand this, but what they do not want to see is major renovation taking place including but not limited to structural changes, major plumbing or electrical alterations and any other type of renovation that may require permitting or require you to leave the home unoccupied while the project is being completed. There are special builder’s risk / vacant home policies that do allow major renovation with underwriter approval, but not the standard HO-3 policy. If you don’t want your Florida homeowners insurance policy to cancel after moving in, be very careful about what you do with the home after you close.

3. Pool Slide, Trampoline, Skateboard Ramp or other Unusual Liability Hazard

While loads of fun, hundreds of Floridians-mostly children, are hurt and even killed using trampolines, skateboard ramps and pool slides every year. If it is your child, you will probably just end up in the local ER. If it is someone else’s, you will end up in court. Since most all Florida homeowners Insurance company policies include coverage for liability, they want to limit any potential risk to their pocket book. There are a few companies that will offer you a policy even with a trampoline or pool slide, but make sure you understand if liability extends to the equipment or if they exclude coverage. Either way, if you can’t say no to little Johnny and choose to have one on your property, don’t be surprised if you get a cancellation letter after the underwriter finds out.

2. Mean Dogs or too Many Dogs.

This one is obvious but will certainly cause cancellation of your Florida homeowners insurance. Florida residents need to understand that almost all policies exclude coverage for animals, unless you specifically buy the coverage. Even then it is a limited coverage. If the insurance inspector finds a pit bull, rottweiler, doberman, wolf hybrid, akita, chow, presa canario or staffordshire terrier or any dog with a bite history on your property, the policy will be cancelled with no questions asked. If you have one of these dogs, you will want to disclose this to your agent up front, so you do not have your policy taken out from under your feet a couple months later. Most companies also limit the number of dogs to two while a few companies allow a total of three. There are a select few companies who will allow some of the previously mentioned dog breeds but make sure you advise your agent you need a company who will accept your specific breed.

1. How old is your Roof?

You’ve probably heard it said that the roof is the most important part of your home. It withstands the sun, rain, wind and other weather conditions. Most Florida roofing contractors will tell you that a shingle roof will last anywhere between 15-20 years. Because Florida has so many days of sun and rain, the weather takes an extra special toll on our roofs. Because water damage is such a costly claim, Florida homeowners insurance underwriters are extra careful to make sure your roof is up to the job. It they see curling, worn, damaged or missing shingles, they will either cancel the policy or send you a notice that the roof needs to be replaced before the next renewal. If you are purchasing a home, pay extra special attention to the roof and make sure you have at least 5 years left with none of the above conditions. This will not only help you keep the policy in effect, but keep your home dry when the big one hits.

If you have questions about a Florida homeowners insurance quote, or if you would like more information about Florida homeowners insurance Tampa residents qualify for, please call us today to receive coverage from the strongest companies with the best rates. We look forward to speaking with you. 813.920.8181 and TF at 1.877.277.2715.

Joshua Butts | Founder/Agent at Cornerstone Insurance, Inc.

Florida Homeowners Insurance Rate Increases Coming Soon

jbutts — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:59:54 +0000

State insurance regulators approved more than two dozen home insurance rate hikes this summer ranging from 6 to 34 percent.

They ordered a rate decrease of 4 percent for Cotton States Mutual Insurance, which announced it’s leaving Florida last year, and decreases of 6 percent for First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance, Phoenix Insurance, Travelers Indemnity and Travelers Indemnity Co. of America.

American Integrity Insurance Co. of Florida, which has 102,091 home insurance policies statewide and 13,575 in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, received 14 percent increases for two types of homeowner insurance policies it offers. Security First Insurance, with 119,205 policies statewide and 21,025 in South Florida, received a 9 percent increase for its homeowners multi-peril policies. And Universal Insurance Co. of North America, which has 81,834 policies statewide and 11,420 in South Florida, received a 12 percent increase for its homeowner property insurance policies.

The Office of Insurance Regulation has received 19 rate hike requests that are pending from Florida home insurers since June. Only three companies proposed using a provision from a sweeping property insurance law passed this year that speeds up the rate hike process and the increases range from 5 percent to 7 percent.

The office will hold rate hearings on 12 percent rate hike proposals from Fidelity Fire & Casualty Company and First Protective Insurance Company next week.

The increases approved from June to August 11, 2011 are outlined below.

TYPE OF INSURANCE	INSURANCE COMPANY	% INCREASE APPROVED
Homeowners Multi-Peril	PREPARED INSURANCE	34*
Homeowners Multi-Peril	HARTFORD INSURANCE CO. OF THE MIDWEST	25
Homeowners Multi-Peril	FIDELITY NATIONAL PROPERTY & CASUALTY	21**
Mobile Home	SOUTHERN OAK INSURANCE	19*
Homeowners Multi-Peril	GULFSTREAM PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE	15
Homeowners Multi-Peril	HORACE MANN INSURANCE	14
Homeowners Multi-Peril	TEACHERS INSURANCE	14
Homeowners Multi-Peril	AMERICAN INTEGRITY INSURANCE CO. OF FLORIDA	14
Property (Fire)	AMERICAN INTEGRITY INSURANCE CO. OF FLORIDA	14
Homeowners Multi-Peril	FEDERATED NATIONAL INSURANCE	14
Property (Fire)	TEACHERS INSURANCE	14
Homeowners Multi-Peril	ARK ROYAL INSURANCE	13**
Homeowners Multi-Peril	NEW HAMPSHIRE INSURANCE	13
Homeowners Multi-Peril	FIDELITY FIRE & CASUALTY	12
Homeowners Multi-Peril	FIRST PROTECTIVE INSURANCE	12
Property (Fire)	UNIVERSAL INSURANCE CO. OF NORTH AMERICA	12
Mobile Home	FARM BUREAU GENERAL INSURANCE	12
Homeowners Multi-Peril	TOWER HILL PREFERRED INSURANCE	10
Homeowners Multi-Peril	OMEGA INSURANCE	10
Homeowners Multi-Peril	SECURITY FIRST INSURANCE	9
Mobile Home	FOREMOST INSURANCE CO. FLORIDA	9
Mobile Home	FOREMOST PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE	7
Homeowners Multi-Peril	ADDISON INSURANCY	7
Homeowners Multi-Peril	UNITED FIRE AND CASUALTY	7
Mobile Home	MODERN USA INSURANCE	7
Homeowners Multi-Peril	GULFSTREAM PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE	7**
Mobile Home	AMERICAN TRADITIONSINSURANCE	6
Homeowners Multi-Peril	AMICA MUTUAL INSURANCE	4
*more than what was requested
**less than what was requested

Source: Office of Insurance Regulation data

What Is An Umbrella Policy and Why Should I Carry One?

jbutts — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:53:01 +0000

Personal Umbrella insurance Tampa residents have access to is additional liability insurance, designed to pay out on top of your existing auto and homeowner’s/renter’s insurance policies. For example, you may only have $300,000 in liability coverage on your car insurance. If you are hit with a claim of $1,000,000, you would be on the hook for $700,000 yourself unless you had an adequate umbrella insurance policy. Here is a diagram explaining this from MSN Money:

In addition, an umbrella policy can also “fill in the gaps” by providing coverage for other incidents like liability for rental properties or being sued for slander or libel. Imagine working and saving for decades, only to have all of it taken away with one incident. Here are my reasons for buying an umbrella policy:

#1. Unlikely, But Actual Scenarios
These days, there are many scenarios where one might be sued for more than $100,000 or even $1,000,000. In my mind, the most likely event is to be found at fault in a car accident. Medical costs alone can exceed $100,000 per person easily. Now imagine if there were 2, 4, or even 6 people in the car. Imagine if some of them were children. Here is one example from a NY Times article on umbrella policies:

One of Mr. Cox’s clients crashed into the rear of a car on a slick highway. A woman and a child were critically injured. After two years of litigation, his client settled the lawsuit for more than $5 million. The client had $15 million in umbrella coverage. The policy paid for the settlement and all legal costs. “Without the umbrella,” Mr. Cox said, “they would have been completely wiped out.”

More recently, I read about a parent chaperone during a field trip being hit with a $700,000 verdict for negligence:

Lauren Crossan, of Randolph, N.J., had traveled to Hawaii in 2004 with Susanne Sadler, Sadler’s daughter, and another New Jersey cheerleader to perform in the halftime show of the Hula Bowl. Within hours of her arrival at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort, Crossan was seen drinking alcohol. Her body was found the next day on the hotel grounds.

An arbitrator determined last month that Sadler was partially responsible for Crossan’s death and ordered her to pay $690,000 to Crossan’s parents and her estate.

A blogger writes something bad about a company and gets sued for defamation.
A man was asked to cut down a tree from his own yard. He refused, and later a hurricane blew the tree down and injured someone in the neighboring house.
Your child gets in a fight at school, and injures another student.
Your dog bites someone.
You have a pool, and a visitor hurts themselves.
A handyman or contractor hurts themselves on your property.

#2. Have the Insurance Company Lawyers Take Your Side
Forget even getting a large jury verdict against you. If someone simply sues you for a frivolous reason, you’ll have to pay for a $400/hour lawyer to defend yourself. With an adequate umbrella policy, the money at risk will be the insurance companies instead of your own. That means the big corporate lawyers will be on your side, and your defense costs will be covered as part of the umbrella policy.

#3. It’s Cheap, and Easy To Buy
It cost us about $250 a year for $1 million in coverage for the both of us, including 2 cars and a house. That’s basically $10 per month per person. However, we did have to raise the liability limits of our auto and homeowner’s policies slightly to $500,000 each. So if you are only carrying the bare minimum required by law (not a good idea for most people), your actual additional costs may be higher.

It was really simple to get as well; we had an umbrella policy added to our existing policies with just one phone call. No long application or additional fees. But the low cost also means you may have to look out for your own interests. I guarantee that if you mention that you want whole life insurance to your local agent, they will get really excited (big commission) and get you quotes within 24 hours. They’ll even follow up if you forget. On the other hand, selling you an umbrella policy for $200 a year results in a tiny commission. All I got was a “yeah, I suppose that might be a good idea…” They’ll still sell it to you, but it won’t be heavily promoted like other products.

#4. One Less Thing To Worry About
Some people believe that you may be a bigger target for lawsuits if someone finds out you have a $1 million umbrella policy. Here’s how I look at it. If I really wanted to premeditate a lawsuit against someone, I’d pick someone who is worth a lot more than $1M. More like $10 million and up. In a big metro area like mine, multi-millionaires are a dime a dozen. Even if I was frivolously sued, again the whole point is that I’m still covered. To me, this argument is like saying you shouldn’t earn more money because someone will sue you for it.

In the end, we have a $1 million umbrella insurance policy because this is exactly what insurance is for – to protect me from unlikely yet possibly catastrophic events. The likelihood is low, but so is the cost. We chose $1M somewhat arbitrarily because it covers our net worth and also what I feel is a reasonable amount of likely claims. As inflation (and especially medical costs) rises, I could see upping it to $2M since the additional cost is only about another $100/year.

Now, if you have a low or negative net worth, then perhaps there would be less incentive in getting such coverage. I certainly had no idea what umbrella insurance was in college. I would imagine lawyers are less likely to go after those with “nothing to lose”.

If you would like an Umbrella Policy Quote Tampa, then call us today or fill out a quick quote form. We look forward to speaking with you soon.

What Is a Wind Mitigation Inspection?

jbutts — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:01:05 +0000

For our first blog, I wanted to bring information to people that will help them save money on their home insurance without removing/ reducing coverage on the policy.

If your home was built between 1980- 2001 or any age home if you put a new roof on in 2010 or later, immediately complete a wind mitigation inspection. Passed by Florida’s legislature to reward homeowners who have built homes to better withstand wind, this normally $75-$100 one time inspection will put a smile on anyone’s face once they see the premium reduction to their policy.

So what does this inspection involve and will my home qualify? The wind mitigation inspection is primarily concerned with when the roof covering (shingles, tile etc) were installed (2002 and after gets a credit), roof deck attachment (how the roof’s decking was attached to the truss below, ie. nails or staples) and how the roof truss is connected to the walls of the home.

According to inspector Bill Doyle, a Florida certified building contractor, almost all home built after 1980 have clips that hold the roof to the wall. This one credit alone is worth anywhere from 20-40 percent off of the wind portion of your premium. This often equates to $150-$300 per year savings for the average home in coastal communities just for the one credit. And chances are your home was built after 1980.

If your home was built from 1994-2001 or if you have had a new roof put on after 2010, you will qualify for the roof deck discount in addition to the roof to wall connection discussed above. This is because Florida building code required 8d nails to be used starting in 1994 and for all new roofs starting in 2010 that previosly used staples. This is another 20-40 percent off the wind portion of your policy and averages between $100 -$200 off per year depending on the coverage A in your policy.

Also starting in 2010 for new roofs is something called SWR (Secondary Water Resistance.) This is a technique used to protect the interior of the building when the roof cover and under layment blow off during a storm. It can be applied to plywood roof decks and is a self-adhering polymer-modified bitumen roofing under layment (thin rubber sheets with peel and stick underside located beneath the roof covering and normal felt underlayment). This discount is not huge, but can amount to $30-$75 per year.

Roof shape is also a big determinant in the price of the discount. If you have a HIP shaped roof, one that slopes down on all sides( looks like a pyramid and cannot have more than 10 percent gable to qualify as HIP) then you have a roof that will withstand wind better that a gable shaped roof(gable roofs look like they form an inverted V when viewing from the ground).

The HIP roof discount usually does not require an inspection from a wind inspector now that Bing and other aerial mapping is available online.

If you have any questions or want to know if your home will qualify for wind mitigation discounts, please contact our office at 1-877-277-2715 and we will review your policy to make sure you are receiveing all available discounts. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Joshua Butts, Founder | Licensed 2-20 Agent

Cornerstone Insurance, Inc.

Welcome to the New Cornerstone Insurance Website

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:27:30 +0000

Welcome to our new website. Please browse to find more information on auto insurance, homeowners insurance and more for Tampa FL residents and all of Central Florida!