Monroe homeowners fail FIRM

 

     Only 2 percent of Keys homeowners are letting their homes be studied in an attempt by Fair Insurance Rates for Monroe County to lower windstorm rates. FIRM got Citizens Insurance to fund a $485,000 study of how Keys homes are built, in order to get fairer rates for coverage.

    

FIRM discovered that over an eight-year period, including six major hurricanes, Monroe homeowners paid $600 million in premiums, and collected only $100 million in claims.

Essentially, the quality of the buildings, unrecognized by Citizens' old actuarial models, means windstorm premiums should be only one-sixth as much as homeowners are paying. That means a $4,940 bill should be under $1,000.

 

     To correctly judge  building standards in the Keys, a reputable international team of engineers and actuaries has been hired by FIRM to inspect county buildings. They cannot accept volunteers to have their homes inspected, because that would favor people who know their homes are windproof. They have to randomly sample homes to accurately describe our homes' strength overall.

 

     But this entire program, so hard-fought-for by FIRM for over a year, is being threatened by Monroe homeowners' refusal to allow their homes to be inspected.

 

All homes are carefully kept confidential, identified only by a code kept secret by the inspection firm. They are not interested in any individual home. It is only the homes studied as a group that are important.

 

Any homeowner lucky enough to get an offer for a free, confidential windstorm inspection of their home, should say yes or at least, call FIRM at the number they provide on the survey to confirm your confidentiality.

 

     At the rate Citizens' premiums are increasing, in 10 years they will far outstrip mortgage payments. Homes here will only be able to be sold to cash buyers, who can deny windstorm coverage.

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