Florida Keys Real Estate Insurance

The right home insurance policy can help to protect your Florida Keys home from every day issues but can also help to protect your home from much larger and out of the ordinary problems. For those in an area like Monroe County, the right insurance policy can certainly go a long way. Learning about some of the basic types of insurance needed and what helps to determine overall premiums can help you to better understand what insurance needs your property might have.

What is Home Owner’s Insurance?

Home insurance is made up of two parts, property insurance and liability insurance. These two types come together to create one policy that most people know of as home owner’s insurance. Property insurance secures and insures the property itself as well as any belongings that you might have within the home. It protects your home from things like fire, damage, and from being destroyed by forces of nature. In a county like Monroe county however where hurricanes are possible, you are going to need extra insurance that is specifically for wind and wind damage associated with hurricanes and tropical storms. The property insurance portion of your policy is going to be in place to help protect your home and is going to depend on the size of the home, how much it would cost to rebuild the home in the current market, and of course the contents of the home and how much stuff you have inside.

For the liability portion of a home policy you are going to be covering anything that the homeowner could possibly be found negligent for. This means things like someone getting injured on your property or inside your home, as well as libel, and even slander. This is again a portion of your insurance that is going to be dependent on the house itself and how much liability insurance you feel you need to have in place. When it comes to outlining your liability policy it is always going to be best to speak with an agent to see if minimum coverage is enough or if you need to have more coverage.

Understanding Florida Keys Real Estate Flood Zones

Flood zones in the Florida Keys are broken up into three categories, x flood zone, or areas that are not likely to flood and therefore are optimum in terms of covering them, AE flood zones which are middle of the road and may or may not flood, and then VE flood zones which are those zones that are likely to flood or that are below flood level. With X flood zones you should not have any problem getting a flood policy as these are the optimum zones to insure.

For AE flood zones you are going to pay a little more as they are near flood zones or may be in flood areas. Within the AE category there are different distinctions like AE 1-10 levels. This is again a way for the insurance companies to determine what the overall risk for flood is so that they can then set the insurance premiums and deductibles to reflect the risk of flood and the risk that the insurance policy is going to need to be called on to repair a home that has flooded. This is going to be considered a moderate risk and you are going to pay more for a policy if your home is in an AE zone. However, if you have a home that is in an AE zone you do want to get flood coverage to help protect your home.

For homes that are in a VE flood zone, coverage is essential. This is a high risk flood zone where floods are very likely to happen and therefore premiums are going to be much higher. However, if you live in this flood zone you are going to need to have some sort of coverage so that when the area floods, you do not have to come totally out of pocket to have your home repaired. With this flood zone your premiums are going to be considerably higher as the risk of flood is also considerably higher.

Elevation Certificate

In order for a home to get flood insurance you need what is called an elevation certificate. This is going to list exactly how far above flood elevation the home is and is also going to let you know if your home has any livable space that is below flood zones. FEMA set the flood zones in the 1970s and homes built after that should be above flood level with their flood zone assigned. As mentioned before, homes that were built before that time may have livable space that is technically below flood level. In these cases, these homes are going to be more expensive to insure but do need to be insured as well. Flood insurance is a great way to make sure your home is going to be protected and safe if there is a flood of any kind above and beyond what your typical home policy may cover.

Wind Insurance Florida Keys

A wind home insurance policy covers both damage from named storms and damage from typical wind but these two coverages are going to be outlined separately in your written policy and collecting on the may be a bit different. In terms of wind coverage your premium is going to be dependent on several different factors but the first is of course your deductible. The higher the deductible, or out of pocket money you pay to file a claim, the lower your premium is going to be. In order to determine if you need your deductible lowered or raised it is going to be beneficial to speak with an insurance agent about your specific home and your specific policy needs. You will have a different deductible for a normal wind damage claim as opposed to a named storm claim.

The price of this type of policy does go up based on the probability of a storm and the probability of damage and a potential claim. The age of the home or the year built does not affect the cost of wind insurance but there are a few other factors to consider. The size of the home does change the overall cost of a policy as does the cost of a home and how much it would cost to rebuild. There are some structural factors that you can do or that the construction crew may have put in place when the home was built to help decrease cost.

In 2002 regulations were put into place that required new homes being built include the safeguards that we are going to discuss be used on new homes to help mitigate damage and reduce the chance that a home would be completely destroyed by a storm. These construction attributes are roof straps, the nailing pattern of the home, additional water barriers and impact windows and shutters.

Roof Straps

Roof straps are straps that are installed under the shingles and the roofing to help make sure that the roof is not going to be pulled completely off the structure. This strapping is used to help keep the home as intact as possible in the case of a weather event. The nailing pattern has to do with the size and the spacing of the nails. These patterns are designed to make it more difficult for a structure to be ripped apart or for pieces of the structure to be blown off, even by very high wind. Additional water barriers might be those that are added under the roof to help prevent water damage if the roof is blown off and to help better protect the structure. Impact resistant windows and shutters are going to be harder to shatter and can help to better protect the home as well.

Older homes can have these items added after the fact but they will need to be certified to make sure that they are indeed going to help protect the structure. A good example would be adding impact resistant shutters to an existing home, they would need to be certified and marked as such in order to get an insurance credit. Since Monroe county and the entire state of Florida are susceptible to tropical storms and hurricanes, wind insurance is a helpful extra to have.

Florida Keys Home Type

Home type also has an effect on the cost of insurance and whether or not you need a policy. Florida is home to a huge range of home types from mobile homes to condos to frame built structures. With a mobile home you cannot get a traditional policy that is going to address repair cost. Mobile homes, since they are technically movable structures, are considered more in line with how insurance would cover a car, you are going to be talking about replacement cost rather than repair cost. Mobile home owners are able to insure their homes for wind and flood.

Townhomes are a little different. In many cases the association that the townhome is a part of is going to be responsible for the exterior of the home and the owner is going to be responsible for the interior. You can speak with an insurance agent and the association you are a part of to get a better idea of what is covered. Condo insurance is very similar to a townhome. Your condo association is going to be responsible for the exterior of the building and the homeowner is going to be responsible for the dry wall and everything contained within. Wind insurance for a condo should be taken on a case by case basis. This is another example why it is important to speak with a local insurance agent.

Modular homes are considered to be frame built and are going to be covered much like a traditional built home. With those that own two homes, some insurance policies are not going to allow you to insure a second home with a traditional policy since you are not in the home all year long. In these cases you really do need to speak with the insurance company to see if you can get a normal policy on a second home.

Insurance can make a huge difference in the real estate market and knowing a bit about the different types you may need based on where you live or where your home is located can truly help you to determine what you need.