Maybe if we had an elected Insurance Commissioner in Alabama we could get more help!! Just a thought

I moved from Florida to Alabama to find a more reasonable place to live.  Now Im in worse shape than if I had stayed in Fl.  At least you can find insurance over there.  The price I was quoted for a $150,000. house was $3500. dollars a year.  Working and retired people can’t pay this.  The insurance crisis is almost as critical as the mortgage crisis.  I live in Lillian and most the people here are retired. and most can’t afford these prices.  I’ve always prided myself on my excellent credit rating but I am now considering walking away from a home that I have invested lots of my hard earned retirement money in.  If I could be “queen for a Day” my rule would be the insurance companies would write insurance over the entire state or none at all including car.The american dream of owning a home has turned into a nightmare.

There has to be Someone who cares enough to help!!!

Our family has lived in Fairhope for 6 years.  Our house sits 1.5 miles from the bay, west of highway 98, and over 100 feet above sea level.  We received our letter from Allstate stating that our rate will raise from $1,800 to $3,600 per year.  We have had no claims in since we’ve moved here, even after Ivan and Katrina.  When shopping rates from other companies, we were told that the only other carrier that could write us a policy was State Farm and they were not currently taking new customers, other than that we would have to buy into the “Beach Pool”.  Something has to be done about the insurance industry practices, and it starts at the State level.  For the Insurance Commissioner to grant a 95% rate increase is absurd. especially for an area that was greatly uneffected by the past years most devastating storms.  I often wonder do those that live in California wild fire areas, or tornado prone areas have their rates doubled because they live near a natural disaster occurance?

this is the first i’ve heard of anyone’s rates increasing. i thought i was the only one in mobile county. none of my neighbors have been affected. i moved here, north of I10 7 years ago with insurance being $875. my premiums have risen with liberty mutual since hurricane ivan to $3800. i didn’t have a claim for ivan or katrina. this year i found a company in the north for $2400. in the past 4 years i’ve called at least 30 companies and had quotes from $4200 to $8600. the cost of living in a FREE country is going to have all of us living under the bridge.

what the insurance companies are being allowed to do is criminal..huge profits while we are losing our homes and condos..where are our congressmen & legislators and why can’t they help us.?  As retirees, we can no longer afford to keep our homes insured and have no wind/hail ins. for the first time in our lives..because we can no longer afford it.  Folks at Gulf Shores are losing their condos and values have plummeted to 1/4 what they were worth before Ivan…when will our elected officials do something to help us on the coast???  Before we lose everything we worked for all our lives or after????

My wife and I are looking into buying our first home. We both have good credit. The high costs of insurance however are making things more difficult for us. We are worried about these costs rising in the future. I am sincerely hoping that our legislature can find a way to make it easier for families like us to pursue the American dream of home ownership.

I work for a mortgage company and I see this everyday. People moving out of houses simply because the insurance has become too expensive. Why cant the state legislate that if you are going to insure homes in alabama, offer coverage in all areas.  Why allow companies to “cherry pick” the areas where they can collect premiums but have little chance of having claims? Isnt the point of insurance to “INSURE” against a claim? Force the insurance companies to offer coverage in all areas, bring back competition and drive prices down.

I live above I10 /Hwy 90 . I am with Allstate.  My rate almost doubled also. After all the years of paying premiums , we should be entitled to representation by Alabama Dept of Insurance .  It makes you want to give up and join the uninsured,,, even with your auto and health insurance .  If I don’t ,,, I will end up working most of my life for insurance .  I want to leave this country and go to a 3rd world country and trust God ,,, not an insurance company !!!!  Maybe there are other countries who do not have the insurance trap . Why does the homeowner have to lose like this ?  Please hear our voices ?

It is just not right that you pay insurance premiums for years at a time and never make a claim then have a “natural” disaster that you have no control over and your insurance ends up being canceled.  I agree with it being taken to the state.  It is also enough to make me reconsider keeping Allstate as my insurance!!!!!  Thanks for making people aware.

I also have a comment on rising homeowners rates. I live in Lake Forest, Daphne, Alabama which is located just south of I-10. I’ve been living here for the past 15 years and have seen my rates climb from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand dollars a year. Although I have not had any insurance claims during this period, I have been notified by Allstate that effective, begining of this year(2008) my insurance rates will be increased over 100%. I wrote to the Department of Insurance in Mongomery to complain about the high rate of increase and they replied that there is nothing that they can do and said I should get quotations from other insurance companies.