ORLANDO, Fla. — People across Central Florida are suddenly having their homeowners insurance canceled or not renewed.
9 Investigates looked into why getting new insurance has become so difficult.
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Channel 9′s Jeff Deal found out many homeowners are having to pay out of pocket for a brand new roof just to get their home insured.
Paul Alexander has been a homeowner for more than 25 years, and has lived near downtown Orlando for nine of those years.
He said he never had his homeowners insurance canceled until the middle of last year.
It has now been canceled three times, most recently because of the age of his roof.
“It’s slope -- that goes into a flat roof,” Alexander said.
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He realizes that at 15 years old, the roof is nearing the end of its life.
“But it has ever leaked, and I’ve never had an issue with the roof,” Alexander said.
He is not alone.
Homeowners statewide have received notices of nonrenewal or cancellation.
“It has been overwhelming, Jeff, for the last couple of years. And I’ve been trying to warn so many of the public about what’s coming,” said Diana Giron, of Universal Insurance Agency.
She said she receives daily telephone calls from clients about the issue.
Giron said there has been a flood of claims, mostly for new roofs and lawsuits against insurance companies.
Some of those claims are from storms, but some are from roofers going door-to-door, telling homeowners they have damage and convincing them to file claims for roof replacements.
Lawsuits then come after the claims are denied.
“There are over 380 lawsuits being filed to property homeowner insurance carriers in the state of Florida a day,” Giron said.
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Attorneys who win cases can collect up to 30 times the claim amount in attorneys’ fees.
Giron said that has put some insurers out of business and others either pulling out of Florida or looking to limit their risk, especially when it comes to roofs.
“People are getting nonrenewed, or they’re being told, ‘Have you replaced your roof prior to the renewal?’” she said.
She said some companies will no longer insure a home with a roof that is more than 10 years old.
Roofing experts are seeing it, too.
“I have inspected over 50,000 roofs and stopped counting,” said Doug Wallace, who started his roof consulting firm WJA Consulting 35 years ago.
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What is happening now is unprecedented.
With real hurricane and other storm claims and what Wallace believes are many fraudulent roof claims in recent years, he understands why insurers are doing what they are doing.
Ultimately, though, he sees it as hurting homeowners.
“We look at them all the time,” he said. “They don’t need to be replaced. They have minimally 5, 6, 8 years left on them. And the people are being put in a financial situation where they have to come up with $15 -- $20,000 for a roof.”
Alexander said he will have to pay out of pocket for a new roof immediately just so he can find a company to insure his homes.
“I just signed a contract yesterday to buy a brand-new roof, and I’m trying to get it on as quick as possible. So hopefully, I can stay insured,” he said.
Giron said paying out of pocket for many is difficult but said the increase in real estate values in Florida may help some.
For people who have been in their homes for a while, she recommends looking into refinancing to see if taking cash out will help cover the cost of a new roof.
Once a new roof is on, she recommends getting a wind mitigation inspection to lower the homeowners insurance cost even more.
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