FLORIDIANS GETTING THE SHORT END OF THE STICK

By Eric Glazer, Esq.

Published October 2, 2017

 

               If this doesn’t anger you, nothing will.  Have you ever thought about why your flood insurance premiums are so low while your windstorm premiums are so high?  The answer is really very simple.  The entire country shares the burden of the National Flood Insurance Program.  It is a National Program where the insured risk is spread throughout the entire country.  Nobody pays extra because they are in a state that is more prone to get hit with a flood.  It’s a one for all, all for one program.

 

               To the contrary, insurance protection against windstorm events like a hurricane are not covered by a national program like flood insurance is.  Floridians pay exorbitant amounts for private windstorm insurance because there is no national insurance program that covers the risk of hurricanes. 

 

               Most of the natural disasters in Florida are the result of wind driven damage and not flood damage.  Notwithstanding this, Floridians contribute a whopping 35% of all the premiums collected for the National Flood Insurance Program.  In return, Floridians only receive about one-quarter of what they pay into the program.

 

               Let’s look at this in even easier to understand terms.  The victims of Hurricane Harvey primarily suffered damage as a result of flooding, not wind storm damage.  If these victims had flood insurance, it was cheap, and they will receive pay-outs from the national flood insurance program in place.  Floridians will wind up paying 35% of all pay-outs to the victims of Hurricane Harvey and the other states pick up the other 65%.   Now let’s look at the victims of Hurricane Irma in Florida.  Most of the damage here was wind driven.  Floridians get zero help from a national program and instead hope that their private insurance carrier does the right thing and pay their claims, even though they paid their insurer incredible amounts of money for annual windstorm premiums.  Floridians pay for the damage in Texas, but only Floridians pay for the damage to Florida and we get back zero from the other states.  How is this remotely fair to Floridians?

 

               It’s time Floridians stop getting taken advantage of. Our windstorm premiums are out of control, and trust me, it’s going to get much worse as a result of Irma and Harvey next year.  It’s time to contact your elected federal officials and demand that Congress pass legislation that creates not just a national flood insurance policy, but a policy that covers damage as a result of wind, and specifically hurricanes.  It’s only fair. 


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About HOA & Condo Blog

Eric Glazer Eric Glazer graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community association law for more than 2

decades and is the owner of Glazer and Associates, P.A. a seven attorney law firm with offices in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and satellite offices in Naples, Fort Myers and Tampa.

 

Since 2009, Eric has been the host of Condo Craze and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs at noon each Sunday on 850 WFTL.

   

See: www.condocrazeandhoas.com.

   

He is the first attorney in the State of Florida that designed a course that certifies condominium residents as eligible to serve on a condominium Board of Directors and has now certified more than 10,000 Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a Circuit Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the best interest of Florida community association members.


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