Insurance reform president say insurers aren’t worried about old roofs leaking – they think they’re most likely to be targeted by shady contractors drumming up business.
An increasing number of Florida insurers are refusing to cover homes with roofs over 10 years old as the state continues to deal with increasing weather damage claims and rampant fraud.
Florida’s top 44 insurers face an increasing number of lawsuits, according to data from the state Department of Financial Services – a total of 44,325 during the first six months of 2021 compared to about 30,000 during the same period in the three previous years.
An anonymous insurer recently cited at least four companies unwilling to insure shingle roofs more than 10 years old, two that had a cut-off at 12 years, and three that would not insure homes with 15-year-old roofs. The data was based on a review of information submitted to the state’s insurance regulators.
“You can’t force insurance companies to write business they can’t write, says Paul Handerhan, president of the Federal Association for Insurance Reform. “If the law suddenly required companies to cover homes with older roofs, you’d be risking the company’s solvency, and that wouldn’t do anyone any good, because, after a catastrophe, they’d be going bankrupt and no-one would get paid.”
Handerhan says that insurers don’t care if a 10- or 12-year-old roof is still functional; the issue is that they see homes with older roofs as most likely to be targeted by roofing contractors looking for big payouts.
Source: Insurance Business America