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Lynne McChristian
Our blogger, Lynne McChristian, is the Florida representative for the Insurance Information Institute and is based in Tampa.
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About this Blog
No one can predict the future, but insurers have to try. That is the very nature of the insurance business -- to price and sell a product before the true cost of hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other types of claims are known. Private insurance companies must operate their businesses to have the money on hand – in advance – to pay anticipated claims. They can't go back and make up the difference if they get it wrong. This blog’s goal is to help Florida residents understand their insurance coverage, the issues and their choices. The more you know the better the insurance decisions you make.
Author Archives: lynnem
No more million dollar homes in Citizens means a billion less storm risk
This is a story of John and the “Dear John” letter he got from Citizens Property Insurance this month informing him that his premium payments for insurance coverage are no longer welcome. His $1 million-plus home would no longer be … Continue reading
The value of understanding appraised value, market value & insurance value
If you matched your property’s insured value to today’s real estate value, you will be underinsured. If you matched your insured value to real estate value before the housing bubble burst, you would have been overinsured. Yes, it’s really that … Continue reading
Posted in Rebuilding costs, Replacement Cost Coverage
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My mitigation education: lessons from a home inspection
Have you had a wind mitigation inspection? This is when a credentialed inspector comes to your home and looks at how it is constructed to assess its ability to stand up to hurricane-force winds. I had my home inspected just … Continue reading
Putting the brakes an auto insurance fraud
Florida made the national news last week over its growing problem of auto insurance fraud. CBS Evening News had a segment on scammers cashing in on car “accidents”, and it included an interview with a former scammer explaining how it … Continue reading
Posted in Auto Insurance Fraud
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Florida building codes get top marks, yet lots of homes built before codes got smart
When it comes to building codes, Florida gets an A. Our fair – and increasingly hardy-built – state was one of three states earning more than 90 points on a 100-point rating scale to grade the regulations and processes for … Continue reading
Posted in Building Codes, General, Homeowners+Renters
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More eyes needed on insurance fraud, including consumers’
It’s a fact that Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system is flush with fraud. Recently, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration validated that with a three-day sweep of pain clinics in Miami-Dade County and found regulatory violations in 90 percent … Continue reading
Posted in General, Property Insurance Fraud
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Cracking the code on sinkhole claims
The Tampa Bay Times launched its new name and the New Year with a three-part series on the Great Sinkhole Lottery, titled ”Cracks in the System.” Here – at last – is the “big picture” on what the cost of … Continue reading
Posted in Citizens Property Insurance, Sinkholes
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Silence deafening on bank’s rescinding sinkhole requirement
When Citizens Property Insurance had its sinkhole rate hearing in September, there were people ginning up the hubbub by proclaiming that “people would lose their homes because lenders required sinkhole coverage.” I put those words in quotes since they were … Continue reading
Posted in General
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No more gambling on luck with state-run insurance programs
There is good luck and dumb luck – and both don’t seem to last. Calls to shrink Florida’s state-run property insurance mechanisms – Citizens Property Insurance and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund – are coming from smart, practical people who … Continue reading
Florida 2011 hurricane season uneventful, yet dismissing storm threat is for dreamers
Believing that Florida will never have another hurricane is a lot like believing in Santa Claus. You really want it to be true. And, now that Hurricane Season 2011 is officially over, it’s so delightful to dream that you can … Continue reading
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