Design

State Farm Moves to Eliminate Florida Discounts: State Farm Florida, which will soon stop writing new homeowners insurance in the state, is now asking the legislature's permission to remove all the discounts that its remaining policyholders receive, giving those people what amounts to a significant rate increase. Clients receive discounts for such things as having your car and home insured by the same carrier, alarm systems, new plumbing and electrical wiring, hail resistant roofing, and the like. Those discounts, when taken in total, can reduce one's premium by roughly one third. State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, called the filing an "outrageous" way of "going around the law" to raise premiums without a formal rate increase. " The insurance companies always seem to find a way to help themselves and neglect the homeowner," he said. [emphasis added] A Missed Opportunity: Bernard Madoff's personal property is being meticulously...

It's been a while since I have spent any time reviewing the basic justification for a home inventory, and I know that we have a lot of new readers that haven't heard an explanation of what I do or what the home inventory industry is all about. Let me start off by saying that home inventory goes hand in glove with good homeowners insurance coverage. I'd go so far as to say that one is incomplete without the other. Most of us have mortgages and are required to carry "hazard" insurance ( H azard is the mortgage industry's term for homeowners policies, and can include homeowners, condo-unitowners, or rental dwelling coverage depending on the occupancy of the home), but no one requires you to have a home inventory. Until , that is, you have a claim. Claims adjusters require the completion of personal property inventory forms in order to settle those types of claims. Even if you have suffered a total loss and everything is gone, you will more than likely have t...

Vicious Cycle: Saturday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that four of the top insurers in the state of Georgia have requested rate hikes for the coming year, affecting nearly 40% of the state's consumers. State Farm, First Liberty, Cotton States, and Nationwide have filed increases that fall between 5 and 11 percent, modest by insurance company standards but huge for the rest of the financial world. Rates are also on the rise in Illinois, Texas, and Florida among others . Even with such increases, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said consumers are doing better than those in neighboring states, where he said premiums have been rising at double-digit rates. “We are by far the cheapest in the Southeast,” he said. That makes you folks in Georgia feel A LOT better, doesn't it? Allstate On The Mend: The Wall Street Journal says Allstate has learned some tough lessons over the past year and is ready to bounce back. When the WSJ has something good to sa...

Farm Bureau: According to Farm Bureau, this storm season promises to be one of the most active ones in the past ten years. We've already seen that here in Tennessee. The link says that as part of your storm preparedness you need a home inventory. State Farm: Will resume writing homeowners insurance in Mississippi according to the Jackson Clarion Ledger . This is very good news for the consumers of Mississippi. I'll just be curious to see how many residents of the state will forgive State Farm and come back to them. Short Post This Morning: My wife's family is having a reunion this weekend, so I'm going to play golf in a few hours with a bunch of her uncles and cousins. I married into a wonderful family! I play golf so infrequently these days, and I like to get my money's worth by taking a lot of swings along the way. Farley Home Services Provides inventory documentation to frustrated golfers everywhere. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com to see how...