I cancelled mine as well.

Aside: My Fiat Spider broke down in Marathon at the 55-mile marker in the 1970s. The mechanic had no idea how to fix foreign cars, so we took a bus home, rented a tow-bar for Mrs. Notes' Jeep, hauled it back, and it turned out to be a faulty distributor cap.

Back to insurance:

I had a claim after a hurricane that destroyed my water softener, came through an air conditioner when my neighbor's limb hit it and that screwed up the linoleum tile in the back room.

The insurance paid $2,000, just enough to fix the water softener. The rate now is $4,000 per year, so I'll take my chances.

The house was built in 1950, and for the roof, instead of 2x4s, it's held up with pairs of 2x6 beams that are actually 2" by 6" of Miami-Dade Pine. Top that with real tongue and groove of the same wood and then 2" of polyurethane foam.

I have storm awnings and storm panels.

I'm 32' above sea level (The Florida Alps) so the storm surge shouldn't get me.

In the past few years, I've saved a lot of money by dropping wind insurance. Especially since after damage, the insurance companies don't want to pay. Of course I'm taking a risk.

In addition, Allstate started a new, Florida only company and transferred all their insurance to it. You can bet, if a big one comes, they will have that company declare bankruptcy.

I've been in every hurricane in FL since Donna, and I know this for most of coastal Florida:

(1) don't live on the beach or on a barrier island.

(2) don't live on what was once swamp land (if the land isn't 20'above sea level, don't buy it).

(3) don't live near a river or any other body of water subject to storm surge.

(4) buy hurricane awnings/shutters/panels, you will need them.

(5) don't buy an asphalt shingle roof. After the storm, 99.99% of the blue tarps on roofs are on this type of roof.

(6) don't live in a mobile home or manufactured house.

It's not a safety guarantee, but it diminishes the odds to the minimum.

The water does much more damage than the wind.

I've seen Ft. Meyers Beach flattened 4 times since I was a kid, and yet, they rebuild. I've seen 1/4 mile of barrier island disappear in a storm, and although they tried to rebuild it with new sand, the new sand just washed away. I've seen more oceanside homes destroyed than I can count.

Why do they keep doing the same thing? Hit me once, shame on you, hit me again, shame on me.

I feel badly for those who didn't know these rules, or chose to ignore them.

Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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