HPIA Raising Home Insurance Premiums

[Aaron S]

That's according to this BIW article

http://www.bigislandweekly.com/articles/...news04.txt

The aspect that troubles me is the lack of justification for such a massive increase in premiums. In my opinion, it will just benefit the insurance companies bottom line and negatively effect local families
living on edge.

[Guest]

The best places to do it, are the places that are most vulnerable.

The justification was in the article:

"What has happened is that the number of policyholders have been increasing in lava hazard zones one and two and we wanted to make sure there is adequate protection in the event of a large lava eruption,"

You pay to play.

You want your cheap house... you pay for the extra's that go along with it. One of those things is insurance. []

Had not so many people moved into the area... the premiums wouldn't have gone up.

Anyone that moved into the area... contributed to the problem[B)]

And like the article also states... be lucky to even have insurance.

"...one of the only companies that will provide coverage in lava hazard zones one and two."

-------
My Blog

[Aaron S]

If you really think that reason you cited fully justifies a 35% increase in premiums I got some land in Antarctica to sell you .

[Guest]

And I think that's what the realtor was thinking when he sold your brother the property in the LAVA Zones [][]

-------
My Blog

[Aaron S]

Areas like Puna and Ka'u are one of the few areas where affordable housing exists in Hawaii. But on the flip side neither of these areas have adequate infrastructure in place and are in Lava 1 and 2 zones for the most part.

My brother and his family would never in a million years be able to
buy a home up here in Kona. Especially when prices are sky high (500,000 +). He would be stuck renting for the rest of life (which was causing him and his family a lot of problems).

When the opportunity buy a recently completed home in HOVE came up in early 2008. My brother jumped at the opportunity. Why pay someone else's mortgage when you can use that money to build equity for you.

That being said, these massive increases in home insurance premiums
is going to affect everyone living in these areas negatively.Which includes your the folks you are living with, Damon.

[Jon]

with property values dropping, the rates should be going down not up.

Transplanted Texan
"I am here to chew bubble gum and kick some *** ... and I'm all out of bubble gum"

[Jon]

just stop paying it... its not like the bank will take you house from you as long as you pay the mortgage. at least not for a year or two... and if you are a new home owner, you owe more now than the house is worth.




Transplanted Texan
"I am here to chew bubble gum and kick some *** ... and I'm all out of bubble gum"

[lquade]

HOVE? remember mauna loa is overdue to erupt in her cycle and last time, hove was her target... so it isnt that odd insurers are nervous.

[John S. Rabi]

While the article is recent, this seems to be old news. My premium was already increased by about 35% in August. [!]

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[Devany]

This is one of the reasons we elected not to buy a house in Puna. Not so much the rates, but the fact that it is very likely that much of the area will experience lava flow in the future. The rates we got for insurance were from Lloyds of London and were quite high, aside from the fact that it only covers lava issues if your house burns down, which does not always happen. It is true that the property values in Puna are significantly cheaper and there is a reason for that. But it is a gamble that many are willing to take. I can understand the attraction completely, much of Puna is amazingly beautiful. A real estate professional should have been explicitly honest about this issue. Still, our insurance in Hawaii is about 1/3 of the cost of the policy for our California property, which by the way SOLD while we were in Hawaii 2 weeks ago! And our Hawaii policy includes hurricane insurance. We have a lake house in IL and the insurance there is even higher! Insurance is a risky business and the companies have taken a huge hit in the last few years with natural disasters. Just look at the devastation in S. CA going on right now... and can we say "Katrina"? Ike? and the rest. Even if you do not live in an area like that, the company loses money when they have to pay so many claims and raising rates is one way to keep them in the black.

BTW, didn't one of the last standing houses in the flow JUST catch fire recently?

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

Devany Vickery-Davidson
East Bay Potters
www.eastbaypotters.com