John Wheeler

 

Many of us remember the George Clooney movie where three storm fronts converged off the coast of New England to create the “Perfect Storm“.   There is an insurance version of the Perfect Storm brewing in the homeowner insurance marketplace.  Like in the movie, several storms are converging on homeowners simultaneously, and rates are expected to increase.  The insurance ratings company, AM Best, reports that, beginning June 1, many home insurance companies will increase rates 15 to 20 percent.  Other home insurance companies are in such poor financial condition that they are under direct supervision of the Office of Insurance Regulation.

You may be asking the same question State Senator Jeff Brandles recently asked recently, “Why did my homeowner insurance premium increase 26 percent?”

Reason #1:  Assignment of Benefits (AOB) Fraud

AOB is a scheme where unscrupulous water mitigation or roofing contractors get homeowners to assign the proceeds of the claim to them.  The contractor then inflates the work estimate.  When the insurance company refuses to pay the inflated estimate, the unscrupulous contractor sues the insurance company.  Unfortunately, the innocent homeowner is caught in the middle and the insurance company is forced to incur high legal fees to defend.   When the cost of claims increase due to fraud, premiums for all of us inevitably will increase.

Reason #2:  Hurricanes that won’t go away

Home insurance companies are still receiving new claims from Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Michael in 2018.  You may be thinking, why would a homeowner wait three years to report storm damage?  They wouldn’t under normal circumstances, but these claims are not genuine.  These claims are designed to get the insurance company into court where the  plaintiff attorney forces the insurance company to pay attorney fees inflated by 250%.  Unbelievably,  this is legal.

 

Insurance companies, of course, do not print money, they must pay these fraudulent claims from premium received from regular folks like us.  When fraudulent claims increase, our premiums increase.  We will see some increases in north Florida beginning June 1, but we do not expect the double digit increases that will be broadly applied in south Florida.

Source:  The Center Square

 

 

Gulf sturgeon have begun their migration back into the Suwannee River.  While we routinely remind drivers to watch out for deer on the roadways, we don’t want to forget about the Suwannee Sturgeon, which averages 5 feet in length and 40 pounds.  A watercraft collision with any of these stunting submariners could be catastrophic.   If you have an unfortunate encounter and your watercraft is insured with one of our partner insurance companies, we’ll pay for your repairs.  Call us; we are happy to review your coverage with you and guide you through the claims process.

We are proud of our partner Safeco Insurance for taking care of their customers during the Coronavirus emergency.  To help our customers, our community and our country, Safeco has taken the following actions:

• 15% Refund – because fewer drivers are on the road during the stay at home order, the risk of claims is lower.  Safeco has asked the State of Florida for permission to refund 15% of auto insurance premium during the 60 day shutdown.
• Late fees have been stopped from March 23 to May 22nd.
• Personal Auto Coverage has been expanded to allow customers to deliver food and medicine during the emergency.

The Wheeler Agency only represents companies that operate with high ethical standards and financial strength.  Safeco exemplifies both of these ideals.  Learn more at www.Safeco.com/Covid-19

The annual Garden Club Scrabble Tournament is underway.  The community is well represented with a full field. Melissa, Susie, Casandra and Josiah are playing. Wish them luck.

John was privileged to read the book Strictly No Elephants to the Voluntary Pre-K (4 year old) class at My Little Red Schoolhouse today during Florida Literacy Week.  Strictly No Elephants is about a little boy who had a pet elephant that was not allowed to attend pet club socials because elephants were excluded.  Being excluded because his friend was different made him sad, but he found new friends and formed a club that welcomed all.   Be a friend today!

Congratulations to Pinemount Elementry for winning the 2020 Rotary Math Bee. John was honored to serve on the panel of judges, but don’t let that fool you. The fourth graders were the stars, answering complicated word problems in less the 20 seconds. Fort White, Columbia City and Belmont also made an outstanding showing.  We are proud of our local schools