While it appears the worst of the COVID-19 Pandemic is behind the Nation, the ramifications across the Home Owner’s Insurance market in Florida are still being felt and will very likely leave a lasting impact. The Underwriting divisions of each Carrier have largely reacted individually as the realities of operations throughout the last year with COVID-19 set in. Largely, home sales across Florida kept steady and the market remained strong, which normally would indicate a stronger market for Carriers, more homes being built and sold mean more Policies are being written and sold.
However, fundamentally, there’s been a massive shift in how homes are being used. Work-from-home opportunities exploded across the Nation, with Florida certainly not being immune to same. Traveling abroad broadly decreased. By all means, Homeowners “stay in” more often. Risk actuaries and Underwriters now must assess the risk of house fires, plumbing losses, and other non-storm or force-of- nature losses fundamentally differently. At the simplest level, masses of Homeowners are now performing their jobs at home and thus remain inside for upwards of 8 hours a day rather than leaving. In the quantitative analytics and statistics-heavy world of underwriting, the magnitude of this shift cannot be understated. To that end, there’s now quite the quandary for Carriers, the market is hot with home sales soaring, but Underwriting is in a fundamental state of disruption.
How does this impact Homeowners? In a deeply uneven fashion, Homeowners, in or out of suit, have reported relatively unusual non-renewal notices from Carriers. Many now having to face the purchase of an entirely new policy, as Carriers pull out or move in to certain regions across the State. These Notices can predate a suit or claim, or may come after the property is put back into it’s pre-loss condition, defying logic or even-handedness, and illustrating the state of disarray the combination of the Market and Underwriting concerns have created.
The silver-lining is that not every homeowner may experience this issue, and may continue as policy-holders without noticing any substantial difference. If you should receive any correspondence from the Carrier and your claim is being handled by our Offices it is critical you advise us as early as possible as non-renewal notices or cancellation of policies during a claim dispute can be of great significance. If you’ve experienced a loss and have yet to retain legal counsel and receive similar correspondences, reach out to our Office for representation. However, it is also important to contact an Insurance Broker or research policies available in your area, as often, a non-renewal notice and switching Carriers may just mean some paperwork and research.
COHEN LAW GROUP
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