Florida residents worry about home insurance rates
(14 Jul 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4444397
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brandon, Florida – 13 July 2023
1. Florida home sign
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Valrico, Florida – 13 July 2023
2. Home for sale sign
ANNOTATION: Farmers Insurance became the latest property insurance company to pull out of Florida on Tuesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brandon, Florida – 13 July 2023
3. LGBTQ realtor award
ANNOTATION: Advocates are concerned this will make homeownership even more inaccessible in an already volatile market with high insurance premiums.
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Callen Jones, Florida real estate agent:
“It’s causing people to question whether or not they can stay. Can I afford to live here? Because you can’t not have insurance. If you have a loan, you have to have insurance. And if you don’t get your own insurance, the lender will place insurance, which is more expensive. So we really are seeing not only a challenge for homebuyers, but the bigger challenges for people who have lived here for a while. They’re set on their monthly income. They’re set on what they can afford. And now all of a sudden, the budget is broken over something like homeowners insurance, because the more companies who leave, the less opportunity you have to shop and get a better rate.”
5. Various of Jones working in office
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Fort Myers Beach, Florida – 10 May 2023
6. Car in rubble
ANNOTATION: Risks for carriers have also been growing as climate change increases the strength of storms.
7. Wide shot of destroyed building
ANNOTATION: Hurricane Ian in 2022 is the most expensive storm in state history, with the office of insurance regulation estimating over $17 billion in insured losses.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Sanibel, Florida – 11 May 2023
7. Shot of skeleton holding sign saying “Just waiting for the insurance check.”
ANNOTATION: Thousands are still waiting on claims.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brandon, Florida – 13 July 2023
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Callen Jones, Florida real estate agent:
“When you’re in a situation of crisis, you don’t have the capacity to go against the big guys. So that’s why insurance continues to under support people who need them. And that’s the bigger crisis in Florida, too, is that we have some of these areas that they will be affected for the storm for years or decades because people can’t afford to rebuild. And then those people have to move somewhere else. Then if they try to buy again and you now have these high premiums, that’s why they have to leave the state.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Fort Myers Beach, Florida – 10 May 2023
10. Drone shot of Fort Myers Beach
STORYLINE:
Real estate agent Callen Jones is among many realtors and homeowners in Florida who are concerned about rising home insurance costs and the recent drop in the number of insurers who are doing business in the state.
Farmers Insurance became the latest property insurance company to pull out of Florida on Tuesday despite repeated efforts by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature have made to try to calm the volatile market that is making homeownership less affordable.
Farmers informed the state that it is discontinuing new coverage of auto, home and umbrella policies. The company said in a statement that the decision affects policies issued through its “exclusive agency distribution channel.” It said there will be no effect on 70% of current policies in Florida.
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Views: 318 on 2023-07-19 12:19:57
Time: 00:01:58
Keywords: Brandon Florida