Hartford Homeowners Insurance Review

November 5th, 2008 FL Insurance Posted in Home Insurance No Comments »

The Hartford Financial Services Group is one of the largest insurance groups in the US and is ranked 82 on 2007’s Fortune 100 List as well as being one of “Fortune’s Most Admired Companies”. Founded in 1810, the Hartford offers financial stability and a solid background in the home insurance industry.

The Hartford Insurance Company uses independent agents to assist clients in finding a personalized Florida homeowners insurance policy, while also providing quotes from other companies. Independent agents help make the claims process more efficient and user-friendly for the home insurance consumer. Agents are easily accessible using The Hartford’s online agent locator.

The Hartford’s “Sentinel Plan” is a tailored package that allows you to combine basic home insurance coverage with personalized enhancements for a lower total cost. The Hartford also offers plans that specifically cater to home businesses, a feature that many of their competitors lack. All home business policies can also be personalized, as no two home businesses are exactly the same. Renters can also take advantage of The Hartford’s comprehensive insurance policies that are typically limited to homeowners.

The Hartford offers many basic coverage policies for your home. Dwelling Coverage covers the cost of rebuilding your home or structures that are attached to it. Personal Property Coverage insures personal property owned by the policyholders, wherever they may be. Loss of use coverage covers the cost of living when your house is uninhabitable because of a covered event. Liability coverage insures accidental injury or death on your property alongside Medical payments coverage, which compensates for costs incurred when you, your family members or your pets injure someone else while on the property. The Hartford also optionally offers earthquake and scheduled personal property coverage.

The Hartford also offers policyholders a Contractor Connection Network. When your Florida home is damaged by natural disasters or is in need of repair, The Hartford can provide resources to ensure that the best contractors in the area repair your home. All selected contractors are held to extremely high standards of service and must be reliable and professional. The Hartford’s affiliated contractors will inspect the site within two days of contact from the homeowner. These contractors work with The Hartford to estimate damages and can guarantee that you are getting a fair cost and evaluation of the work to be done. The Hartford adjusters will communicate with the contractors for you if you are unhappy with their progress or the finished repairs. Contractors in the network must be financially stable, licensed, insured and must guarantee their workmanship for three years.


Travelers Homeowners Insurance Review

November 5th, 2008 FL Insurance Posted in Home Insurance No Comments »

Travelers of Florida keeps it simple, offering basic Florida home insurance that is affordable to homeowners. Homeowners can choose to add enhancements to their policies and increase their monthly premiums. They are open 365 days a year and boast fast and efficient claims. If there is a serious emergency in or involving your home, a Travelers of Florida agent will be at the property no matter what time of day. Specially catered to Floridians, Travelers of Florida has a catastrophe response team in the event of major storms or natural disasters that will come and assist policy-holding homeowners.

Basic Travelers of Florida homeowner’s policies cover your home, detached structures, personal belongings, living expenses when the home is damaged and personal liability. A basic Travelers of Florida house insurance policy surpasses the basic coverage of its competitors.

Additionally, policyholders can opt for contents coverage, additional replacement cost protection, personal injury, identity theft protection, personal articles floater and pleasure boat liability insurance for small watercrafts.

Though Florida homeowner’s insurance rates have soared, Travelers of Florida offers competitive pricing, keeping their policies affordable. They extend discounts for new homes, combining your homeowners and automobile insurance policies, for staying claim-free and for securing your home with smoke detectors and security systems.

Travelers of Florida also offers insurance products for condominium owners and renters. Florida condo owners are offered coverage of their personal contents as well as personal liability. They are also offered the same enhancements to their coverage as homeowners such as contents coverage, personal injury, identity theft protection, personal articles floater and pleasure boat liability insurance. Similarly, renters are offered the same protection for their rental home as condo owners.


State Farm Homeowners Insurance Review

November 5th, 2008 FL Insurance Posted in Home Insurance No Comments »

State Farm insures 15 million homes in America, offering policies that protect the home, personal contents as well as personal liability. State Farm is recognized for rewarding policyholders with discounts when they insure their homes and their automobiles through their insurance company. State Farm is the largest private insurance agency in Florida. They write policies for one out of every five residents in the Tampa area.

State Farm offers a unique Condo Unit Owner Policy, a policy that covers condominium owners that live in the condo at least part-time and are insured by a condominium association. Unlike their home insurance policies, State Farm limits condo owners from coverage of water damage, earthquakes, settling, nuclear hazards and animal damage such as from rodents or birds. Condo owners are also not protected when business takes place on the premises or if there are purposeful injuries administered on the premises.

State Farm can help protect those who rent their home by offering coverage against vandalism, fire or theft. Most landlords do not insure the contents of their rental property; they only insure the building. State Farm offers policies for renters that cost less than one dollar per day. They also provide coverage for personal injury or property damage to others while on your property. State Farm extends their reward discount to renters as well when they insure their rental property and their automobile through State Farm.

Their site also offers many resources to help protect your home, beyond the coverage that an insurance policy can provide. State Farm provides a loan and mortgage calculator to help you figure out the cost of your future home, including Florida homeowners insurance. They also provide a program called Possessions Matters, a computer application that helps you record the contents in your home in case of destruction. This can be downloaded for free on their website.

Unfortunately in February 2008, State Farm said they were no longer writing new homeowners insurance policies to Floridians, having spent $4.4 billion in 2005 because of eight destructive hurricanes that hit Florida. Though there are 900 State Farm agents in Florida, the new laws about capping homeowners insurance premiums and the continuing volatile climate in Florida have driven them to cut their policies. Current policy holders will not be affected by this new plan and policy holders that move within the state to a new home will also not be affected.


Allstate Homeowners Insurance Review

November 5th, 2008 FL Insurance Posted in Home Insurance No Comments »

Allstate is Florida’s largest homeowner’s insurance provider. It is the nation’s second largest personal property insurer as well. Allstate continues to receive excellent ratings from Strong&Poor’s, Moody’s and A.M. Bests for their ability to effectively pay claims to homeowners in Florida. Allstate is a national insurance company so they are extremely accessible, even when traveling.

It is easy to access all policy information about your Allstate Florida homeowner’s insurance because all of your information is online. You won’t waste time waiting on the phone because you can manage and track claims all from your home computer. Their web site also offers a free online calculator to estimate your monthly payments and to compare future home loans. Allstate realizes that home insurance is an investment that must be calculated in to the financial planning of purchasing a home.

Allstate provides workmanships guarantees when policyholders work with their designated contractors. They have a variety of products to choose from so that homeowners can personalize their coverage to suit the needs of their family and their home.

Most Allstate Florida homeowner’s insurance holders opt for coverage of personal property, family liability protection, guest medical protection and additional living expenses. These types of protection are offered for Florida house insurance, Florida condo insurance, Florida mobile home insurance and also Florida renters insurance. Personal property coverage compensates for movable personal property that is lost or damaged. Family liability protection covers the inside of the home for accidents or property damages to others that you are legally bound to pay. Similarly, guest medical protection covers others that are injured within your home by insured losses. Additional living expenses coverage compensates you and your family for expenses incurred when you must live outside of the home because it is inhabitable.

Other optional Allstate policy additions are replacement cost coverage, scheduled personal property coverage, increased building code coverage, portable cellular communication systems coverage and satellite dish antennas coverage. These additional compensations can save you money when you least expect it.

Those looking for Florida mobile home insurance can opt for either the deluxe policy or the standard policy from Allstate. Special mobile home insurance policies include emergency removal in case of a fire or nearby hazard, trip collision in case your mobile home is damaged in transit and fire department charges if your mobile home is not under the watch of a local fire department.

It is clear that Allstate insurance policies do not exclude any type of homeowner in Florida. Unfortunately, Allstate has dropped 400,000 Florida homeowner’s insurance policy holders within the past four years. Destructive weather and new laws about premiums rates have caused Allstate to slowly retreat from this market.


Citizens Homeowners Insurance Review

November 5th, 2008 FL Insurance Posted in Home Insurance No Comments »

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation was created in 2002 when the state of Florida combined the Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association. This corporation provides insurance to Florida homeowners in high-risk areas and homeowners that cannot find insurance coverage from a private insurance company.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation aims to protect Florida’s financial health by providing affordable insurance policies to homeowners that would otherwise pay high rates for the location of their homes. The company provides security to Floridians that are most in need of financial coverage in the event of natural disasters. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation also prides itself on its excellent customer service and claims efficiency.

Unlike their competitors, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has a Policy Holder Declaration of Rights. This policy requires employees and members to provide customers with courteous and prompt customer service, fair prompt and professional claims services, prompt professional service from insurance agents and the right to know about all products and services.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation offers policies for personal residential multi-peril, personal residential wind and hurricane, commercial residential multi-peril, commercial residential wind and hurricane and commercial non-residential wind and hurricane.

You can save money and receive discounts with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation on many different grounds. If your home has hurricane mitigation features, you can save 45% on your insurance rates when a licensed expert certifies the features. New homes that comply with Florida building code also receive a discounted rate for homeowners insurance.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation also provides resources to consumers and their own policy owners to help them construct safer homes and protect their families. These resources can prove to be essential for Florida homeowners that are faced with countless natural disasters yearly.

Currently, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has frozen rates until the year 2010. This is a welcomed provision to Florida homeowners that have seen their home insurance rates skyrocket in the past five years. The frozen rates are for commercial and personal policies. However, in 2009, homeowners that have property valued at over $2 million in a wind eligible area are no longer covered. Luckily, Citizens Property Insurance provides policyholders with 180 days notice if their policy will not be renewed when their policy expires. If at that time a homeowner still cannot obtain coverage from a private insurer, through sworn statements, then Citizens will insure them for an additional three years.