Just ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season, homeowners are being dropped by their insurers
As Atlantic hurricane season approaches, thousands of homeowners have found that their Florida insurance companies are dropping them, as they started receiving letters of non-renewal.
ASI-Progressive has been issuing the letters
Now, ahead of one of the most high-risk times of the year, Florida insurance customers are being left to look for replacement coverage in time to ensure they won’t be left without a policy.
ASI-Progressive made an announcement last year that it intended to drop around 100,000 policies in the state. Now, the letters have started being issued to the customers who will no longer have coverage upon the expiration of their policies.
According to the letters being sent to customers, the reason the insurer is dropping the policies is to reduce their hurricane exposure. Unfortunately, that has left thousands of homeowners looking for an alternative with only weeks before the Atlantic hurricane season gets started.
Many Florida insurance customers will need to pay more for coverage
Without a lot of time or as many options from which to choose in the state’s struggling market, homeowners often find themselves paying more for coverage. In fact, often, the coverage they receive and are paying more for will also provide them with less. Either coverage will have more exclusions, or it won’t be as high. Often, deductibles will be higher as well.
Many homeowners were caught by surprise by the letters of non-renewal, according to media reports. Even though the Florida insurance company did announce about a year ago that it intended to cut back on its number of policies, they didn’t realize they would be on the list.
That said, ASI-Progressive partnered with another insurer in this move, so some of the people who are losing their coverage can choose to be taken in by the other insurer to be certain they will have an alternative policy in place before their existing coverage expires. Moreover, according to early reports, the premiums quoted at the alternative insurer are comparable to what the policyholders had previously been paying, so they aren’t facing a massive increase upon switching.
