It’s extremely frustrating when elected officials write laws to protect industries rather than the people who live in the area they’re supposed to be serving.
Insurance is a lot like a casino. They take in money from vast numbers of people betting that only a small percentage will need payouts. If all goes as planned they rake it in. If something changes the odds so they're no longer in their favor, they change the rules. The house always wins.
Insurance companies have been notorious for decades for their lack of fairness and helpfulness. Now, we see that only the US government funded by taxpayers can be relied upon to help those whose lives have been devastated by weather disasters. Listen to Ron DeSantis and all those Republican FOX adherents trash those who really care and who really help. FEMA is doing the best it can do, and Pesident Biden has made his all-out support clear. Meanwhile DeSantis is richly funded by the GREED-driven insurance industry, and takes all he can from the most reliable source, President Biden.
Government backed insurance like the flood insurance program encourages the opposite behavior that the free markets would produce. Stop development and housing in flood prone areas and the taxpayers wouldn’t have to bail homeowners out time and time again
The trouble is that when the sun is shining, those properties look very attractive. Waterfront houses with easy boating access, lush foliage, etc. Draining wetlands that act as buffer zones to build on, developing real estate on barrier islands, etc, etc.
That’s fine but then the homeowner should assume the risk of loss not the taxpayer. You don’t build a house at the end of a runway and then get to complain about the noise. Insurers are very good at estimating the risk and the costs of replacement or repair. Following their lead would produce better results than government backed insurance coverage. Government insurance is always at the mercy of some politician or special interest groups like developers.
They are following the insurers lead by passing legislation to make collecting on policies more difficult. Among other question - Where should people go who are in these homes especially if they can’t sell them? Where in FL is it safe to build or live? State and local land development regulations should restrict building in high risk areas, but 40% of flooding does not occur in flood zones. If government chooses to be at the mercy of special interest groups. Let the special interests pay into a fund to cover the costs.
There is another wrinkle that is going to create more havoc as the future arrives. Many areas of the country are experiencing larger and atypical weather events and natural disasters outside flood zones, areas at risk of fires, tornado ‘alleys’, sinkholes and heat zones are all expanding.
The National Flood Insurance Program was established to provide the assistance you mentioned but instead people used the insurance to rebuild in the same place. This is the law of unintended consequences. Once a home along a seashore or river has been destroyed it shouldn’t be allowed to be rebuilt.
I didn’t mention assistance by the flood insurance program which is only for floods and none of the other damage whether caused by water or not.
The FL government is helping private insurers avoid playing claims. Mortgage companies are not requiring flood insurance. And 40% of flood claims are not in the FEMA maps because the flood zones are expanding and changing faster than the the maps are adopted.
Save Our Home law protects homeowners who qualify for a homestead exemption. Their property taxes can’t increase more than 3% of assessed value annually. Local governments rely on new developments, newcomers and purchasers of 2nd homes.
Oh, I am not disputing that. Of course, the insurance industry is in a new world of risk…ratepayers should be asked to ante up more than they can afford to insure these properties, leaving the natural barriers to do what nature intended.
Similar happenings in the mountains. Friendly, climate-denying legislature removing all references to climate change, loosening rules and regs to make dangerous building easier so you now see videos of houses washing into the Atlantic Ocean and houses washing down raging rivers or sliding off hillsides where houses never should have been built.
In any state with a decent Department of Insurance, the shenanigans you describe would have a company in receivership right smartly. Muck about with reserves? Tell adjusters to lie? That's grounds for losing your right to transact business in the state. In Florida, of course, losing that right isn't a lot of worry to a company leaving anyway. De Santis's law shows EXACTLY why deregulation hurts ordinary citizens
Except State Farm et al don't care if they're banned. They're not going to lose money. Instead, the state will end up with no insurers, as is already happening. As Becky pointed out, the house always wins
It does make you wonder why people move to Florida and, if they are already there, why they don't leave. I understand that many people live where they do because of a job. Moving is sometimes difficult, but not impossible. (I grew up in a Navy family, so I was really used to moving. I attended 6 schools in 12 years, but it helped me learn how to adapt to many different situations.) Why stay in Florida which is a major target for huge storms like Milton and has insurers who are not helping the people who pay them for policies. Other places have jobs, beaches and milder weather.
Heh, as I sit here in the NW waiting for the earthquake to be known as the Big One, I both wonder and understand. I've lived through 7 major earthquakes. In general You KNOW one is coming, but you just get on with life. That habit may explain the attitude someone living in a hurricane zone, too--but 7 disasters in 80 years gives much more play to cognitive dissonance than do two horrendous storms in a couple of weeks. You'd think the dissonance would start wearing thin.
I hear you Susan, and I understand. We have family in California which is vulnerable to earthquakes and wildfires. We are lucky to live in Maryland which sometimes has hurricanes that cause damage, but where we are, the worst of the storm has usually landed either north or south of us. In addition, our politicians, most of them at least, seem to actually care about ordinary people. They would never behave like DeSantis.
Excellent reporting once again, filling a gaping hole in coverage by the corporate media.
I must confess to be of two minds, on one hand feeling compassion for the victims; and on the other wondering why we taxpayers should be subsidizing climate change denying, environment destroying morons. If we were respectful of nature, much of Florida, for instance, would not be "developed".
On top of that homeowners insurance is a cruel hoax.
The taxpayers keep voting for climate deniers because it's easier, psychologically, to believe such people than face up to the changes those voters are going to have to make as Florida increasingly loses ground to rising sea levels. The depth and breadth of those changes are terrifying, so far too many folk will instinctively pretend they are not going to happen.
As ocean levels rise, the people of Florida could absolutely benefit from a planned and organized effort to help people deal with the need to move away from the coasts and low-lying inland areas. A whole new real estate and construction industry could be developed to meet the needs of people moving to safer areas.
If this were done in a well-planned, well-organized way, it could limit people's losses and keep Florida a more desirable place to live. Lacking that, rising sea levels will cause the whole state to go to hell with massive loss of property and wealth for everyone, even the current real state and construction folk.
The coast is a huge problem not too far in the future. There are several others: sink holes, wetlands / swamps, lakes, storms & rain with increasing temperatures. Add to that, manmade obstacles like pollution, lack of infrastructure, the current tax structure & a state government where the governor signed a bill to remove references to climate change from state websites.
An additional problem for FL’s economy is potential disruption of its tourism and agricultural industries. We know coastal counties drive tourism. On the map you can see several of the highest agricultural producing counties are coastal counties. Rising heat and sea level (saltwater intrusion) threaten agriculture and humans. https://www.fl-counties.com/floridaagprofile/
All in all Florida may be a case study of what not to do and how difficult it is to undo bad governance.
DeSantis is in full on Project 2025 mode. I see this as him showing how he has already implemented it, as he hopes for a position in the Trump administration. The Corporate media is not revealing what a horrid governor he is, but thank you for doing so. He is screwing the folks of Florida to make his MAGA points. It is in my opinion both unlivable, and not a state where I want to put my money.
Iowa’s AG is too. She’s suing the federal government over rules regarding caregiver ratios in nursing homes and care facilities. “How dare Joe Biden threaten the profits of my campaign donors!”
DeSantis is clearly in Trump administration job seeking mode, and sucking up to the big DT with his actions. Of course people in Florida will die unnecessarily and have their lives ruined because he is not doing all he can to help and protect them.
So true. Also, to vacation there is looking more and more risky. I remember these 3 sisters vacationing there a couple of years ago and all dying in a hurricane because their airbnb did not let them know they needed to leave.
This is the tragedy of most insurance in general. Most people pay their premiums for multiple decades only to be told that if they dare make a claim, they’ll pay more! There is so much scamming in insurance that it should be scrapped. I don’t see any poor insurance CEOs. This is a much needed exposure of insurance tactics. Medical insurance falls under this category too.
"...denying legitimate claims has become a part of the insurance industry's business model. "Many Florida insurers are short on reserves because they’ve diverted funds to shareholders or to parent companies outside the state,"
I'm not at all surprised. Just another example of a company increasing profits by fleecing the customer.
I remember when Hugo hit here in Charleston, SC, 35 years ago. Insurance inspectors were all very polite, respectful, concerned for what people had been through. Checks were quickly paid for the amount of damage that had been done, and for the correct amount. I don't recall anyone having to go to court to fight insurance companies. There had been no major hurricanes prior to Hugo for many years. I'm sure the insurance companies expected that in the future that would continue. Obviously, with increasing climate change, the opposite has occurred. Now insurance companies fight tooth and nail to avoid paying customers what they deserve. Furthermore: our homeowners insurance has TRIPLED in the past several years. We now pay over $30,000/yr. for homeowners insurance and $10,000/yr. for flood insurance. There's no way we can afford this (retired on SSI), and are being forced to move. That is the case for hundreds, if not thousands, of us here in Charleston.
Insurance companies base their rates on the assumption that the future will be like the past. They are now realizing that places like Florida, the gulf coast, and the Atlantic coast are having bigger and more frequent storms it is CLIMATE CHANGE!! Many houses in these areas need to be able to survive a catagory 5 storm, with little damage, to be insurable.
Our house is 200 years old, and has survived many hurricanes. The insurance companies are actually having to assume that the future will be UNLIKE the past!
Beaufort County South Carolina is the county that is projected to be impacted most severely by climate change of any county in the US. So stay away from that county.
Have no fear. Strangely, we were thinking of Asheville, nicknamed "Climate Heaven". (Our daughter lived there for 6 happy years.) Well, you saw what happened there. Research Triangle, maybe?
Asheville, is actually better than Raleigh. Asheville’s flooding has identified where it floods. The homes that did not flood will likely not flood next time. Homeowners insurance will not cover the damage in Asheville because it is flooding.
There is no reason where it can be mandated to have insurance if its truly just throwing your money to crooks. If youre being forced to buy it, they should be forced to follow through with claims, otherwise were being stolen from with the laws protecting the (mob) thieves. I am sick of white collar/corporations being allowed to take our god damn money and its considered good business but if i pocket an avocado I'm considered a thief or a sinner and would be shamed.
Im a waitress and now theyve been allowed to steal out tips now too.....wtf??? Judd!! Help!!! They takevour tips and say theyre "tip sharing" when what tbeyre really doing is using OUR money to pay payroll. Stealing. Its legal.
Then there are the deluded property owners who think florida real estate is a good idea. The writing has been on the wall for at least a decade. Plenty of time for all but the most unfortunate and impoverished to leave. Let’s focus on helping those folks and not worry too much about owners of second homes etc.
When Surfside went, I read a geologist talking about how the whole state is just very porous and not the place to be building sky scrapers. We hear about the ground opening up and swallowing cars and houses there with sinkholes. Personally, I am so grateful that rightwing billionaire Ken Griffin returned there and left Chicago, after he ruined our state, and schools, which he then insults, and then goes to Florida to join all these techies going there too. May a big wave come and solve our problems by washing them out to sea.
Our family moved to Houston in 1980. I remember how my parents told the same story countless times: They bought THIS house over an identical one in the back of the neighborhood because it didn't require flood insurance. For 38 years, that home weathered every storm and hurricane. Until Harvey. The home was in one of FEMA's 1000-year flood plains and flooding destroyed the entire first floor of the home. My mom was a proud and talented DIY-er. Everything in that home was by the grace of her hands. To see it all destroyed in a single day broke her. When the mucking crews came through, she cried as they ripped drywall away down to the studs.
Then came State Farm -- mom's homeowner's insurance company. She'd filed ONE claim in 38 years, and denied her claim for Harvey flat-out. FEMA came through and gave her $13k to fix the entire first floor. Mom was angry, and rightfully so. I was flat-out in a state of rage. I know what happened to mom wasn't unique and several flood victims suffered the same fate. But what I will say is this: Hurricane Harvey -- in concert with FEMA and State Farm -- killed my mom. She, quite literally, died of a broken heart on March 15, 2018.
It’s extremely frustrating when elected officials write laws to protect industries rather than the people who live in the area they’re supposed to be serving.
Blatant corruption in plain sight. In any normal country this would be a big scandal.
Insurance is a lot like a casino. They take in money from vast numbers of people betting that only a small percentage will need payouts. If all goes as planned they rake it in. If something changes the odds so they're no longer in their favor, they change the rules. The house always wins.
Yeah, especially when the companies have an operative in the government to pass ridiculous laws that only benefit them and fucks the insured.
Insurance companies have been notorious for decades for their lack of fairness and helpfulness. Now, we see that only the US government funded by taxpayers can be relied upon to help those whose lives have been devastated by weather disasters. Listen to Ron DeSantis and all those Republican FOX adherents trash those who really care and who really help. FEMA is doing the best it can do, and Pesident Biden has made his all-out support clear. Meanwhile DeSantis is richly funded by the GREED-driven insurance industry, and takes all he can from the most reliable source, President Biden.
(Has Mar-A-Lago been washed out to sea yet?)
Government backed insurance like the flood insurance program encourages the opposite behavior that the free markets would produce. Stop development and housing in flood prone areas and the taxpayers wouldn’t have to bail homeowners out time and time again
The trouble is that when the sun is shining, those properties look very attractive. Waterfront houses with easy boating access, lush foliage, etc. Draining wetlands that act as buffer zones to build on, developing real estate on barrier islands, etc, etc.
That’s fine but then the homeowner should assume the risk of loss not the taxpayer. You don’t build a house at the end of a runway and then get to complain about the noise. Insurers are very good at estimating the risk and the costs of replacement or repair. Following their lead would produce better results than government backed insurance coverage. Government insurance is always at the mercy of some politician or special interest groups like developers.
They are following the insurers lead by passing legislation to make collecting on policies more difficult. Among other question - Where should people go who are in these homes especially if they can’t sell them? Where in FL is it safe to build or live? State and local land development regulations should restrict building in high risk areas, but 40% of flooding does not occur in flood zones. If government chooses to be at the mercy of special interest groups. Let the special interests pay into a fund to cover the costs.
There is another wrinkle that is going to create more havoc as the future arrives. Many areas of the country are experiencing larger and atypical weather events and natural disasters outside flood zones, areas at risk of fires, tornado ‘alleys’, sinkholes and heat zones are all expanding.
The National Flood Insurance Program was established to provide the assistance you mentioned but instead people used the insurance to rebuild in the same place. This is the law of unintended consequences. Once a home along a seashore or river has been destroyed it shouldn’t be allowed to be rebuilt.
I didn’t mention assistance by the flood insurance program which is only for floods and none of the other damage whether caused by water or not.
The FL government is helping private insurers avoid playing claims. Mortgage companies are not requiring flood insurance. And 40% of flood claims are not in the FEMA maps because the flood zones are expanding and changing faster than the the maps are adopted.
Save Our Home law protects homeowners who qualify for a homestead exemption. Their property taxes can’t increase more than 3% of assessed value annually. Local governments rely on new developments, newcomers and purchasers of 2nd homes.
https://www.cfpublic.org/environment/2023-10-16/sea-level-rise-drain-floridas-financial-future
Oh, I am not disputing that. Of course, the insurance industry is in a new world of risk…ratepayers should be asked to ante up more than they can afford to insure these properties, leaving the natural barriers to do what nature intended.
Similar happenings in the mountains. Friendly, climate-denying legislature removing all references to climate change, loosening rules and regs to make dangerous building easier so you now see videos of houses washing into the Atlantic Ocean and houses washing down raging rivers or sliding off hillsides where houses never should have been built.
In any state with a decent Department of Insurance, the shenanigans you describe would have a company in receivership right smartly. Muck about with reserves? Tell adjusters to lie? That's grounds for losing your right to transact business in the state. In Florida, of course, losing that right isn't a lot of worry to a company leaving anyway. De Santis's law shows EXACTLY why deregulation hurts ordinary citizens
Except State Farm et al don't care if they're banned. They're not going to lose money. Instead, the state will end up with no insurers, as is already happening. As Becky pointed out, the house always wins
It does make you wonder why people move to Florida and, if they are already there, why they don't leave. I understand that many people live where they do because of a job. Moving is sometimes difficult, but not impossible. (I grew up in a Navy family, so I was really used to moving. I attended 6 schools in 12 years, but it helped me learn how to adapt to many different situations.) Why stay in Florida which is a major target for huge storms like Milton and has insurers who are not helping the people who pay them for policies. Other places have jobs, beaches and milder weather.
Heh, as I sit here in the NW waiting for the earthquake to be known as the Big One, I both wonder and understand. I've lived through 7 major earthquakes. In general You KNOW one is coming, but you just get on with life. That habit may explain the attitude someone living in a hurricane zone, too--but 7 disasters in 80 years gives much more play to cognitive dissonance than do two horrendous storms in a couple of weeks. You'd think the dissonance would start wearing thin.
I hear you Susan, and I understand. We have family in California which is vulnerable to earthquakes and wildfires. We are lucky to live in Maryland which sometimes has hurricanes that cause damage, but where we are, the worst of the storm has usually landed either north or south of us. In addition, our politicians, most of them at least, seem to actually care about ordinary people. They would never behave like DeSantis.
Excellent reporting once again, filling a gaping hole in coverage by the corporate media.
I must confess to be of two minds, on one hand feeling compassion for the victims; and on the other wondering why we taxpayers should be subsidizing climate change denying, environment destroying morons. If we were respectful of nature, much of Florida, for instance, would not be "developed".
On top of that homeowners insurance is a cruel hoax.
The taxpayers keep voting for climate deniers because it's easier, psychologically, to believe such people than face up to the changes those voters are going to have to make as Florida increasingly loses ground to rising sea levels. The depth and breadth of those changes are terrifying, so far too many folk will instinctively pretend they are not going to happen.
As ocean levels rise, the people of Florida could absolutely benefit from a planned and organized effort to help people deal with the need to move away from the coasts and low-lying inland areas. A whole new real estate and construction industry could be developed to meet the needs of people moving to safer areas.
If this were done in a well-planned, well-organized way, it could limit people's losses and keep Florida a more desirable place to live. Lacking that, rising sea levels will cause the whole state to go to hell with massive loss of property and wealth for everyone, even the current real state and construction folk.
The coast is a huge problem not too far in the future. There are several others: sink holes, wetlands / swamps, lakes, storms & rain with increasing temperatures. Add to that, manmade obstacles like pollution, lack of infrastructure, the current tax structure & a state government where the governor signed a bill to remove references to climate change from state websites.
https://www.cfpublic.org/environment/2023-10-16/sea-level-rise-drain-floridas-financial-future
An additional problem for FL’s economy is potential disruption of its tourism and agricultural industries. We know coastal counties drive tourism. On the map you can see several of the highest agricultural producing counties are coastal counties. Rising heat and sea level (saltwater intrusion) threaten agriculture and humans. https://www.fl-counties.com/floridaagprofile/
All in all Florida may be a case study of what not to do and how difficult it is to undo bad governance.
DeSantis is in full on Project 2025 mode. I see this as him showing how he has already implemented it, as he hopes for a position in the Trump administration. The Corporate media is not revealing what a horrid governor he is, but thank you for doing so. He is screwing the folks of Florida to make his MAGA points. It is in my opinion both unlivable, and not a state where I want to put my money.
Iowa’s AG is too. She’s suing the federal government over rules regarding caregiver ratios in nursing homes and care facilities. “How dare Joe Biden threaten the profits of my campaign donors!”
These politicians who do not know that they are supposed to help the people, not harm them should be gone.
DeSantis is one of the most petulant governors the South has had since 1865. Long may he rot, and thank you for a superb exposé, Judd.
DeSantis is clearly in Trump administration job seeking mode, and sucking up to the big DT with his actions. Of course people in Florida will die unnecessarily and have their lives ruined because he is not doing all he can to help and protect them.
Bottom line is as a Floridian friend recently told me who have to be out of your mind to buy a house here. ( I omitted his more colorful adjectives)
So true. Also, to vacation there is looking more and more risky. I remember these 3 sisters vacationing there a couple of years ago and all dying in a hurricane because their airbnb did not let them know they needed to leave.
This is the tragedy of most insurance in general. Most people pay their premiums for multiple decades only to be told that if they dare make a claim, they’ll pay more! There is so much scamming in insurance that it should be scrapped. I don’t see any poor insurance CEOs. This is a much needed exposure of insurance tactics. Medical insurance falls under this category too.
"...denying legitimate claims has become a part of the insurance industry's business model. "Many Florida insurers are short on reserves because they’ve diverted funds to shareholders or to parent companies outside the state,"
I'm not at all surprised. Just another example of a company increasing profits by fleecing the customer.
I remember when Hugo hit here in Charleston, SC, 35 years ago. Insurance inspectors were all very polite, respectful, concerned for what people had been through. Checks were quickly paid for the amount of damage that had been done, and for the correct amount. I don't recall anyone having to go to court to fight insurance companies. There had been no major hurricanes prior to Hugo for many years. I'm sure the insurance companies expected that in the future that would continue. Obviously, with increasing climate change, the opposite has occurred. Now insurance companies fight tooth and nail to avoid paying customers what they deserve. Furthermore: our homeowners insurance has TRIPLED in the past several years. We now pay over $30,000/yr. for homeowners insurance and $10,000/yr. for flood insurance. There's no way we can afford this (retired on SSI), and are being forced to move. That is the case for hundreds, if not thousands, of us here in Charleston.
Insurance companies base their rates on the assumption that the future will be like the past. They are now realizing that places like Florida, the gulf coast, and the Atlantic coast are having bigger and more frequent storms it is CLIMATE CHANGE!! Many houses in these areas need to be able to survive a catagory 5 storm, with little damage, to be insurable.
Our house is 200 years old, and has survived many hurricanes. The insurance companies are actually having to assume that the future will be UNLIKE the past!
Beaufort County South Carolina is the county that is projected to be impacted most severely by climate change of any county in the US. So stay away from that county.
Have no fear. Strangely, we were thinking of Asheville, nicknamed "Climate Heaven". (Our daughter lived there for 6 happy years.) Well, you saw what happened there. Research Triangle, maybe?
Asheville, is actually better than Raleigh. Asheville’s flooding has identified where it floods. The homes that did not flood will likely not flood next time. Homeowners insurance will not cover the damage in Asheville because it is flooding.
Yes, only flood insurance covers floods so it is an essential -- but separate -- policy. Why is Asheville better than Raleigh??
Interesting how DeSantis did such a great disservice to Floridians, for campaign contributions.
There is no reason where it can be mandated to have insurance if its truly just throwing your money to crooks. If youre being forced to buy it, they should be forced to follow through with claims, otherwise were being stolen from with the laws protecting the (mob) thieves. I am sick of white collar/corporations being allowed to take our god damn money and its considered good business but if i pocket an avocado I'm considered a thief or a sinner and would be shamed.
Im a waitress and now theyve been allowed to steal out tips now too.....wtf??? Judd!! Help!!! They takevour tips and say theyre "tip sharing" when what tbeyre really doing is using OUR money to pay payroll. Stealing. Its legal.
I get very dark about the future of humanity.
Then there are the deluded property owners who think florida real estate is a good idea. The writing has been on the wall for at least a decade. Plenty of time for all but the most unfortunate and impoverished to leave. Let’s focus on helping those folks and not worry too much about owners of second homes etc.
When Surfside went, I read a geologist talking about how the whole state is just very porous and not the place to be building sky scrapers. We hear about the ground opening up and swallowing cars and houses there with sinkholes. Personally, I am so grateful that rightwing billionaire Ken Griffin returned there and left Chicago, after he ruined our state, and schools, which he then insults, and then goes to Florida to join all these techies going there too. May a big wave come and solve our problems by washing them out to sea.
Yes! Yes! And finally, YES!!! He still got a museum named after himself though. What an execrable individual.
Our family moved to Houston in 1980. I remember how my parents told the same story countless times: They bought THIS house over an identical one in the back of the neighborhood because it didn't require flood insurance. For 38 years, that home weathered every storm and hurricane. Until Harvey. The home was in one of FEMA's 1000-year flood plains and flooding destroyed the entire first floor of the home. My mom was a proud and talented DIY-er. Everything in that home was by the grace of her hands. To see it all destroyed in a single day broke her. When the mucking crews came through, she cried as they ripped drywall away down to the studs.
Then came State Farm -- mom's homeowner's insurance company. She'd filed ONE claim in 38 years, and denied her claim for Harvey flat-out. FEMA came through and gave her $13k to fix the entire first floor. Mom was angry, and rightfully so. I was flat-out in a state of rage. I know what happened to mom wasn't unique and several flood victims suffered the same fate. But what I will say is this: Hurricane Harvey -- in concert with FEMA and State Farm -- killed my mom. She, quite literally, died of a broken heart on March 15, 2018.
I used to work for an insurance company. The flag was often flown at half-staff; the running joke was it showed we paid a claim.