Live Your Best Life Barefoot
Live Your Best Life Barefoot
EP #31: Let's Talk Insurance with Alissa Russo
Today we talk about what is going on in the housing industry with home insurance. Listen in and see how to navigate all the changes with Alissa Russo with Mapps Insurance.
To get ahold of Alissa you can call 239-908-0518
or Email Alissa@mappsinsurance.com
To learn more:
https://barefootbungalowrealty.com/
Barefoot Bungalow Homes
9200 Bonita Beach Rd SE, Suite 100
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 350-5535
Welcome to the live your best life barefoot podcast with your host Mary Morrison and the team at barefoot bungalow Realty.
Speaker 2:Hello, and welcome to the next episode of live your best life barefoot. I'm Ruth and I'm here with Mary today. Good morning, Mary.
Speaker 3:Good morning. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm great. How are you feeling
Speaker 3:Doing I'm doing good. I'm hanging in there. Um,<laugh> I am excited to, um, talk a little bit about insurance today and, and it's gonna lead into our great guest. Um, we have a lot of insurance on the horizon, insurance challenges, insurance question marks, and, um, I just want everybody to not be afraid because we do have experts out there. Um, I know some people are worried either about their current home or about changing homes and what that can mean to their ability to get insured. So, um, mm-hmm,<affirmative>, we're going to have our special guest today. Um, tell us a little bit more about that and why you don't need to be worried, just be vigilant. And, um, so we want to welcome today. Um, Alyssa Russo and, um, Alyssa. I want you to introduce yourself. Welcome.
Speaker 4:Thank you're. Thank you for having me. Yes. So my name's Alyssa Russo. I am an independent insurance agent with maps insurance here in Aero. Um, I've been in the insurance world for almost eight years now. Uh, so I've been helping buyers and sellers all over Florida, technically, cuz I'm licensed in the entire state of just working with their home auto and commercial insurance needs.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Thank you for coming on the program. Um, thank you. We would love you to give us just a overview of what's going on with insurance right here in our backyard.
Speaker 4:Yes, so crazy times right now. Uh, so in the last six months we've had four carriers go into receivership, which essentially means that they've gone out of business. So we've had 30 days each time to rewrite all of those policies that are within our office. We just had another one, um, announced that they're going to be dropping over 56,000 policies just to be able to stay in business as part of their financial restructuring. So we have 45 days to move those as well. Um, so we've been dealing with that as well as we have a lot of carriers tightening their guidelines, they're limiting what zip codes and counties they wanna write in. Uh, roof ages are being limited, things like that. So we've really had to take more time when it comes to quoting to really see what's gonna be best for our clients and their current situation and kind of advise and you know, present a quote accordingly. Um, so I'm answering a lot more questions in that regard and kind of explaining why all of that has been happening since hurricane Irma. Cause essentially that's what has led us to this point.
Speaker 3:So I think people get confused when, when they hear that, uh, hurricane that we, they assume they're, uh, covered for, um, impacts their ability to keep her, um, keep APRI good price point on insurance. Tell me how that all works.
Speaker 4:So after hurricane Irma, there was a lot of, uh, roofing situations as far as how claims were handled and a lot of attorney litigation that caused a lot of carriers to then pay out more than expected for a particular property. Um, and because of that, the ones who did have to pay, uh, all of the attorney fees and the claim, uh, itself, most of those are the ones that have gone outta business so far. So kind of ironic because they actually paid. Um, and now here we are with them. But with that being said, that caused a lot of carriers to tighten up what they are willing to write at the same time, in order to recoup all of those losses from that event, a lot of carriers have gone to the state of Florida and the government is the one who approves these changes, but they have asked for rate changes multiple times since 2017. So someone that's moving to Florida for the first time or someone that has a renewal review coming up may see a dramatic increase compared to what they had assumed. That's just an accumulation of all of that stuff from the last couple of years now catching up. So we are seeing higher premiums than we have in a while. And we are seeing less, uh, carriers quoting a particular property for that reason, depending on the characteristics.
Speaker 2:So Alyssa, what do you suggest for our buyers? So we have a lot of out-of-state buyers coming and so if they find a property they can call you before they even put an offer in, on that property to see what the insurance is gonna look like. Right.
Speaker 4:Correct. And I usually advise to go ahead and do that, especially if it's an older home and I put that in quotations because anything right now over 10 years old is starting to be viewed as an older home, which is just crazy to me. Um, but that's kind of where the cutoff has been. It seems for most carriers. So I say, do not delay in getting a quote, especially if you're in a flood zone, because that has been the make or break for a lot of clients, unfortunately with how the flood has changed their rating system last October, especially in like Cape coral area, it's been pretty dramatic as far as a change goes. So please don't hesitate to reach out to an agent. I'd be more than happy to help, um, to at least give an idea of what these costs are gonna look like. Now, granted some costs are, might be, um, kind of assumed at the beginning because they haven't yet done their inspections. So most estimates are, you know, assuming that everything is favorable at that point in time.
Speaker 2:Right. That's crazy.
Speaker 3:So I, we were chatting and I, I found it interesting some of the solutions that everyone's coming up with. Um, do you wanna share some of those with us of how we're gonna get past some of this possibly?
Speaker 4:Yes. So on the home side, I, I believe we, we focus mostly on the roofs, so I still have a carrier or two carriers that will go to 20 years on shingle. One of'em will actually go to 25, assuming that there's no damage. So we have options within what we call the standard market for those people. Still, the premium may be a little higher than they're wanting to pay, but it is an option at the time instead of having to be forced to get a new roof, especially if you cannot afford to do so. And there's nothing wrong with the roof, um, when it comes to the flood, well, lemme go back for the homeowners. There is also the nonstandard market that is not through the state of Florida. So it's not as regulated. There are more taxes and fees involved, but those carriers right nationally. So they have a little more backing in that regard. Um, but they usually have a little more limitations on coverage and things like that. So it, it may be an option, especially if there is existing damage or if they have an open claim for whatever reason that market tends to be better suited for the interim. On the flood side, we have FEMA or N F I P, which is the government version and that's throughout the us. So most people are familiar with that already. Um, the other option though, depending on if they have a loan in what type of loan we could look at private options as well. And sometimes that is more cost effective. Again, private is, you know, not backed by the state, so it's not as regulated. Um, but if the cost is there and they, they just need to close on their house, that might be an option as well.
Speaker 2:Okay. That's good. Mm-hmm,<affirmative> good to know that.
Speaker 3:Well, and we have an interesting scenario as far as the amount of people that have homes that have like a 10 year roof, but they're not being able to get underwritten. Does some of the, what you're talking about, um, help with that?
Speaker 4:Yes. So like I said, there may, there's still options. There will always be some option. It just may not be the most cost effective or it may not have all of the coverage that someone is wanting. So there, at that point, it's more of a discussion of what is most valuable to you in the interim. And then what is okay with, you know, maybe forgetting about for right now and then seeing what happens down the road when you do, uh, when you are ready to get a new roof. Um, but there are always something that we can do out there for them, uh, just to be able to make sure that they stay insured.
Speaker 3:Okay. And, uh, we touched a little bit on, off, off air. Um, what is going on behind the scenes with our, um, state government?
Speaker 4:So
Speaker 3:Working with some of these challenges,
Speaker 4:There is a special session. Um, governor DeSantis did finally agreed to go ahead and do one. So next week for a few days, hopefully longer if needed to get this resolved, they are meeting in Tallahassee to discuss what they're going to do. So the office of insurance and regulation is meeting with everyone to see what can be done. Citizens is the state option, and it's been taking a lot of policies, but it was meant to be a last resort option. And now it's kind of a saving grace for everybody. So more than likely what's gonna happen because some carriers have already started doing this is that there's going to be a roof schedule on your policy. So what that means is that more than likely the first seven to eight years, you're gonna have replacement cost on your roof. So if something were to happen the first seven to eight years, they do not take out depreciation on the roof cost. After that, it's gonna start going on an actual cash value basis, which means that they will start depreciating the value based on the age and the overall condition. So if there is a hurricane 10 years down the line, your roof is gonna be replaced with a 10 year depreciation on it. So you will not get as much as you normally would have at replacement cost. Um, but it's a way for businesses or insurance companies to stay in business and for you to still have insurance so that you're not forced to take the, for the mortgage insurance, if they, um, have to force place you, cuz they're only covering the loan amount, they don't really cover any major catastrophic events. So it's kind of useless in my opinion. Um, and it doesn't really protect you as a homeowner. So I think that's one of the things that they're going to do. Um, we're hoping that some other things come out of that that would be beneficial from a consumer's perspective, but it's kind of all in the, up in the air at the moment. So we're just, we're just waiting to see what happens.
Speaker 3:Do you know what the timeframe on, on having resolution is?
Speaker 4:I don't, um, because they just now decided to do the special session when we've really needed it for the last couple of years. Uh, some carriers, when they do decide to make a change with the state, once it gets approved, it can go into effect almost immediately. We had one carrier that let us know actually on May 10th, that they were changing their roofs to a roof schedule on homeowner's policies effective that day. So as soon as we got the email, it was already starting. Some of them will give us about a month's notice of what's gonna be changing and they'll tell us when it affects new business and then when it affects renewal business. So it just depends.
Speaker 2:So how does that roof schedule like transcribed to their P price of how much they pay for insurance? It does it affect the price
Speaker 4:It does by the policy? Yes. So usually you can save, um, depending on the carrier and how they rate it. It's usually about a few hundred dollars annually on your policy for going to that type of, um, payment plan for your roof.
Speaker 2:Okay. So it could work out for some people.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And it's already been an effect. Technically some carriers, what they did was say they only take a shingle roof to 12 years old, but your shingle roof is 15. If you wanted it and they offered it, you could just go to the roof schedule now and save the few hundred dollars with the understanding that that's how it's, uh, gonna be replaced and valued. So it has been something that's been in effect for probably about a year. Now, most people don't want it, which is why they don't go to that. But if you get into a sticky situation where, you know, maybe your DTI is close and you need to close and you really want that house, that might be an option that you're willing to consider at that point.
Speaker 2:Okay. Good advice.
Speaker 3:Very good advice. So much good information. It's great to have people like you that can help us out and figure all these ins and outs out. Um, now we like to switch and have you, we'd love to hear a professional tip for our listeners and um, something, you know, within buying a house or insurance. Um, and then would love to have you tell us a personal tip about something, some secret spot or somewhere here in Southwest Florida.
Speaker 4:<laugh> sure. So as far as a personal tip, I think I'm gonna go back to the don't don't delay and don't be afraid to ask all of the questions. Granted, there's a lot going on with insurance. I have a lot of carriers that I work with. I don't always know the answer for every single carrier, but the thing that I do know is that I know how to find the answer and I'm more than happy to educate people and ask them, you know, what is best for your situation? What are you looking for that way? We get the full picture for them and they're not left at a claim. And wondering why don't I have this covered on here? Um, so that's, as far as the professional side goes for personal, I'm like a big foodie person. So me too. Yeah.<laugh> so it just depends. I've tried to find like local places, but I, it is so hard. So downtown Bonita, just because that's where I live. They have so many cute little spots, like Buffalo chips for barbecue. They have the coffee place down there, which is downtown house of Bonita. Oh my gosh, I'm nurturing the name. Um, and so they have cute little spots down there and a lot of people don't realize that that is down there and we're, they're building like crazy down there. So I would say, go check it out if you haven't checked it out, cuz it's, uh, really coming up from what it used to be a few years ago.
Speaker 3:It really is. That's great tip. Yeah. It'ss really fun down there too.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much for coming on and all of your great advice and wisdom. Um, how can our listeners get ahold of you
Speaker 4:So they can give me a call or a text. I know that some millennials like to text. So my office line that they can do that is 2, 3 9 9 0 8 0 5 1 8. They can also email me. So my email is Alyssa maps, insurance.com. That's a L I SS a a P P M a P P S insurance spelled out.com. I also have Facebook where I'm getting better at trying to keep everybody up to date. So if they just search Alyssa Russo comma insurance agent, they'll be able to find my business page where I am posting more updates of what is going on in the industry as well.
Speaker 3:That's good. That is awesome. Thank you again. And thank you medicine nurse. We appreciate you tuning in and if you have something that you're curious about, make sure you reach out to us. You can call us at two three nine three five zero five three five, or you can reach out to us on Facebook at barefoot bungalow homes. And we'd love to hear from you. Um, we want to invite you to tune in and listen. Each week we have great people that are ready and willing to help us figure all these ins and outs of our local market. Thanks Ruth for being here and thank you.
Speaker 4:Thank you. And I
Speaker 3:Wanna remind you to live your, your best life barefoot.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the live, your best life barefoot podcast, sponsored by barefoot bungalow Realty. To learn more about barefoot bungalow Realty, go to www.barefootbungalowrealty.com or call 2 3 9 3 5 0 5 5 3 5.