MINUTES

Minutes – ROC Forum Meeting -Club Chalet – April 4, 2008

The meeting was opened by President Favata at 10:00am. She advised that this was the last meeting of the season and hoped that our program over the last six months had assisted attendees in their responsibilities as Board members in their communities. She thanked Moderator Ed Mosakowski for a successful Board Member training seminar conducted on March 25^th, our third consecutive annual session.

Treasurer Bill Wright gave a brief report on our financial situation, our fiscal year running from April 1/07 to March 31/08. As of March 31, 2008 our bank balance was $3773.86. For the year, a total of $3609.50 was recorded as income and $2458.75 recorded as expenses. Details are available if requested. Ms. Favata acknowledged  the ROC  Forum Board members and thanked them for their contributions. She then introduced guest speaker Janet  Schopp, Insurance Specialist with the Florida Department of Financial Services who provided an “Insurance Update for Homeowners and Associations”

A summary of her presentation is as follows:

-          The legislature is in session this month and there will be further changes to the current law. The information she is providing is based on changes passed in January 2007, specifically House Bill 1A which affects manufactured/mobile homes.

-          The legislature held hearings last year to determine how, in our hurricane prone climate, to make home insurance more affordable. One of the requirements of House Bill 1A was for insurance companies to purchase reinsurance from the Florida Catastrophic Fund.  Insurance companies are professional risk takers, and rely on massive documentation to estimate the losses for the coming year in order to set their rates.  They get their financing from reinsurance companies who are traditionally based off-shore and the State has no regulatory authority over them. Purchasing from the Florida Catastrophic Fund is cheaper for the insurance companies who then can hold or lower their rates, but it puts Florida taxpayers at risk, who fund the Florida Catastrophic Fund, in the event of a major hurricane.

-          As a result of House Bill 1A, insurance rates, on average, were lowered by 20%.  There have been no major storms for the past few years  but when we get the next big one the Florida Catastrophic Fund will be depleted, resulting in an assessment to all policy owners to replenish the fund.  State Farm , a huge company, provides their own reinsurance which they can do cheaper than using the Florida Catastrophic Fund.

-          Some policy holders did not see a reduction or even had an increase. The reason for this was that some companies had filed for an even higher rate increase before B ill 1A came into effect.

-          House Bill 1A requires Insurance companies to file their rates with the Office of Insurance Regulation and get approval before they can advise their policy owners of a rate increase. They don’t require approval if they plan on decreasing their rates. Should a rate increase be refused, insurance companies had the right to go to an arbitration panel who may overrule the Regulator. That is no longer the case.  A judge is now the final arbitrator in such cases.

-          When one purchases a home insurance policy, the company has 90 days to underwrite the policy. During that period, if they  find something  amiss, such as the home being older than anticipated, they may cancel the policy or increase the rates.  Consumers may cancel their policy at any time but insurance companies must now give 100 days notice. Should a renewal come up during the hurricane season, the company must still give at least 100 days notice but no later than June 1^st.

-          A substantial portion of your Homeowners insurance is for Hurricane coverage (typically 2/3^rd). Bill 1A allows consumers to purchase insurance without Hurricane coverage if there is no mortgage on the property. Companies must provide a checklist of what they are covering in their renewal notice as well as Information on mitigation procedures (making your home safer  during a hurricane). If they qualify, Parks may apply to the state for special mitigation funding grants which require no matching funds by the park.  Approval is only granted if a majority of the owners sign on to the request.

-          Florida Law states that insurance companies cannot refuse to write insurance in Florida if they insure in other states. However this does not apply to mobile homes, which makes it difficult to get coverage other than with Citizens, the state insurance company, called a “residual market” in Florida. By law, Citizen’s rates had to be higher than other companies. House Bill 1A denied Citizen’s a rate increase in Decemeber2006 and forbid further increases until 2009. As a result, if there is a hurricane problem, all Florida homeowner insurance policy holders will not only get a Florida Catastrophic Fund assessment, but also a Citizen’s assessment. This is the price of living in paradise.

-          Her department, The Division of Consumers, is happy to hear input from consumers, and will help where they can. They enforce the law, they cannot change the law, you must contact your legislator to lobby for changes.

-          Policy holders who consider dropping their hurricane coverage should check with their insurance company to confirm or not that they are covered for tornadoes. Most companies consider tornados part of the wind insurance that covers hurricanes.

-          The best way to get quotes for mobile homes is to contact the “Florida Market Assistance Plan” at 1-800-524-9023 or www.fmap.org . When you register with them they will put your home out to “quote” to a number of different agencies on an electronic billboard.

-          In cases where insurance coverage may be more than a home is worth, snowbirds may, in some cases, be able to include their Florida property in their liability insurance up north.

-          Policy holders who have had a hurricane claim denied due to water damage inside a home with no external damage should go to the “Division of Consumers Services” for assistance with their claim.

-          All Insurance agents quoting on Citizen’s policies are using the same rates.

-          Persons wishing to contact Ms. Schopp for information or assistance can contact her at 727-587-7277 or janet.schopp@fldfs.com .

-          The meeting was closed by V.P. Morey Fisher at 11:30am who thanked the speaker and  advised that the next meeting of the ROC Forum will be at Sunset  Palms, 3401 Gandy Blvd., Pinellas Park on Nov. 14/08. The speaker will be attorney Robert Tankel.

Secretary – ROC Forum

Norman Banning – Secretary        rocforum@hotmail.com

727-734-5706