Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Take Charlie, Please!

When the news broke that Romney could take the new Florida governor as his running mate, I was delighted beyond belief. I am sure our governor will make a wonderful running mate, and God willing, a vice-president, which will mean Florida will need a new governor.

That is the idea! If only we could get Jeb Bush back!

After Jeb Bush, the new governor scared away the spineless property insurance companies by putting a cap and provisions on the rates. Then, several new fledgling insurance companies surfaced to make a mess of everything. Our new (!) insurance company changed our rate three times after we paid them in full. They still keep sending new stuff and confusing the population and themselves. Although we have paid up for the next year, I can’t trust this company or any other youngster company. The mature well-established companies have left the state or are on the verge of leaving.

The state’s insurance reform plan lowers rates by selling insurers discounted reinsurance. But the first few companies--ours included--to make rate filings have canceled announced rate reductions and instead are raising rates. If so, why did the governor scare away the good ones?

The new proposed rates are waiting for the state insurance commissioner’s review. After that, who knows!

I know it is easy to blame the companies for price gouging, because they do gouge the prices at every chance they get. Yet, isn’t it easier to pay a little more for insurance from a respectable company and feel safe in a state where almost every town is within the possibility of a hurricane hit each year than paying just as much or more money to a fledgling company that probably will not fulfill its promise?

The state is--supposedly--offering the insurance companies cheap reinsurance, and also is promising to provide every company in the state with a golden umbrella that will cover them in the event they have to pay for a real catastrophe. The reality is, in the last hurricane event, even the Florida-government-backed Citizens insurance has given a lot of trouble to its insureds.

Now that everyone is talking against the big insurance companies, it seems heresy to be siding with their greed. Still, as much as I don’t like to pay too much, I’d rather feel safe. After all, a $250,000 average home’s $3000-4000 yearly insurance rate in a hurricane zone should not have been any reason for carping. Imagine losing your entire home and belongings and getting paid two years later 20,000 for a 200,000 home and wasting your life in the courts, after you've paid up all your premiums through many years. Stories like this did happen quite a few times over.

At the end, our fledgling, not-so-believable new insurance company is still charging us much more than the old, stable company that promptly paid up for our losses, and the deductibles of the new company are much more. To start with, they are not covering the outside structures like the pool enclosure, the covered porch and the outside bathroom and storage area. The old bad(!) boys covered everything and paid up promptly.

All this insurance confusion is the result of new Florida governor’s doings. And I feel bad because I voted for him.

So, please, take Charlie and put him in the vice-presidential seat. He’ll be safe there.