Home Owners Insurance

[marymroe]

I've recently moved into a home on 7th in the historic district. Home Owners Insurance seems to be a rather fickled bunch when it comes to older homes. I was wondering what companies others are pleased with, or at least not thinking about strangling.

[fsu813]

Hi Mary,

A lot of people use Daniel Miller from Brightway to find home owner's insurance: http://www.brightwayinsurance.com/locat ... rside.html

Also, I sent you a PM.

Thanks, and welcome!

[macboots]

I had a lot of issues working with Brightway. After a fair amount of go around they would not insure my house, despite it having been gutted and updated with a completely new electrical system up to modern code.

I use Dehlinger Insurance in Orlando. He is a broker and will shop around to provide competitive rates. I would contact them and talk to Mike and at least see what he can offer you. Great service and good rates.

Cheers,

- Will

Mike Dehlinger
Dehlinger Insurance
433 East Michigan Street, Orlando, FL 32806
(407) 839-0510
http://www.dehlingerinsurance.com/

[Debbie Thompson]

I was surprised about the challenge of insuring an historic home when I moved to Springfield. My insurance agent, JP Perry, whom we had used for 35 years, was unable to place our insurance with any of the companies they represent. This in spite of the fact we were purchasing a property that had been fully renovated, with all new wiring and plumbing. Some of them just don't want to touch old houses. I have to laugh at that, as they are generally better built than new ones.

Lloyd Downing at Excel Insurance as able to place our insurance. Matt Carlucci, a Springfield supporter, has also been able to place insurance for Springfield homes, althoug I haven't contacted him lately.

Companies come and go so much in Florida anyway because of the hurricanes. A friend of mine at the beach who had her insurance with State Farm for years and years was cancelled because of her beach location, not because of any damage or claims. Sometimes it's a crap shoot.

[JanetD]

Oddly enough, I had no trouble at all getting State Farm to write my policy. My agent came for a tour of the house in the middle of the renovation and didn't bat an eyelash. As I recall, the only thing he was really concerned about was making sure the crawlspace was enclosed. After all the nightmares I had heard about getting insurance, it was positively surreal.

Although the company has threatened to pull out of FL several times since then, I've still got the same policy. But my old agent has since retired so I have no idea if I could repeat that process today.

[Miss Fixit]

We have used Brightway and a company in St. Augustine. This year we had a new surprise - a house that had been completely renovated with all new systems from top to bottom was declined because lattice was used to enclose the crawl space! They wanted us to replace it with MOBILE HOME faux brick to completely seal up the area, which is not good for the house and would have been ugly as all get out. We refused and found another insurance company, but it cost more money and was a total pain.

[markusic]

State Farm is still in Florida, but unless you are an existing client, they will not write new home policies. And, yes, they do seem to be weeding out what they consider higher risk areas. With them, location seems more of an issue than old or new.

We use Sandi Muhich Insurance Agency. While we do mostly odd ball commercial stuff, she has never failed to find us what we needed and for an affordable price. I assume she could help with harder to place residential as well. 904-751-5050. Warning, while she may not seem like she is on top of things, she will always surprise you because she somehow is.