Well, it's not Bush, it's the government.  Only an idiot would believe the line, we're the Federal Government and we're here to help you.  Yeah, you can tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, I only had my house destroyed in TS Allison.  I fought State Farm for over 2 years and still lost over $25K in recoverable money they owed us.  They turned off their phones and moved their offices and didn't let people know how to get a hold of them for 6 months and then they wouldn't extend the deadline to get the receipts in.  But I will say that some are correct in warning you that many companies will threaten to move out, or they will make it damn near impossible for you to get insurance again for a period of time.  Here, the state had to step in and set up a program for homeowners caught in that position.  Here, some people could not get insurance for up to 3 years after they flooded.  Try to buy another house or keep a mortgage without homeowners insurance.  In areas that have flooded numerous times, no insurance was offered, these people had to take the buyouts.  These were way less than what they were worth.  It will be the same for Florida, if you chose to live in the path of disaster, you'll have to pay for it.  The rest of the people are beginning to question how many times they are going to be required to bail out those that put themselves in these places.  And I was one of those, even though I was my house was only in a hundred year flood plain, it was still in a flood plain.  And insurance doesn't cover flooding, flood insurance covers flooding, and it only covers up to the dry line.  It doesn't replace the entire inside walls.  If you have less than 2 feet of water, they'll replace 2 foot of sheetrock and insulation.  If you have less than 4 feet of water, they'll replace up to 4 foot of sheetrock and insulation.

 That's not all of it Charles. Much of the new laws are being designed to
 prevent
 the vague and easily manipulated contracts the companies have issued..

 The companies that cover wind and debris damage are going against the
 companies
 that cover water and flood. Crazy sh.t going on and the customer is
 caught between.

 For instance a tree in your yard is blown onto your roof. It pokes a
 hole in your roof
 flooding your whole house and collapsing the ceiling and ruining the
 drywall and floors.

 People are being told by Company A (that covers wind and debris)......
 Water actually
 caused the damage, we won't cover it... Company B (that covers water and
 flood).......
 A tree caused a hole in the roof, not the storm surge or flooding water,
 we won't cover it.

 Companies that cover flooding are saying your walls are only damaged up
 to 2 feet from the floor,
 so we will only pay for fixing PART of your wall the, first 2 feet only.....
 Companies that cover wind and debris are saying we won't cover the
 missing roof on your home
 because water got under the shingles and caused them to come loose, and
 the exposed plywood
 wouldn't of collapsed and leaked if water didn't get under the shingles....

 They are literally screwing customers that have paid premiums for years.
 They are just pulling numbers out of the air for costs of rebuilding.
 With 1968
 costs per foot to rebuild. No matter what you valued your home at and
 thus paying
 premiums toward.

 The paper is full of stories of people that have every piece of
 insurance coverage available
 with $400,000 homes that are destroyed getting checks for $300. There
 are law firms that have
 conference meetings for the public at the civic center every other week.
 It's out of hand.
 And after the accounting was done the Insurance Companies STILL HAD a
 profitable year
 in the state of Florida.. That's the Nut Twister and a Slap.

 I had my contents valued at $50,000 and have been paying premiums on
 that amount
 for 10 years. They tried to write me a check for $10,000 the day after
 the storm, hoping I'd
 be to torn up from the storm to be thinking. I had to holler and scream
 all the way up the line
 for weeks and weeks before they had to write me a check for Fifty grand.
 Plus $2500 for debris
 removal. If I wasn't an a.shole and actually read my contract back to
 front over and over
 and bitched and bitched I would of been screwed over. How many other
 people just take what
 they offer and don't know better..... Dirty dirt dealings.

 Then frikin Teflon Dubya Bush coming here right after the storm (before
 the election!!) strutting around saying there
 will be all this help..... Well all the giant live Oaks all over the
 city were down everywhere in the streets, yards
 on homes.... The Feds said that if individual home owners didn't pay
 thousands of dollars each to clear
 the trees out of their yards for "safety reasons" the government will be
 forced to put liens on their homes.
 AFTER everyone's homes had LIENS against them THEN we will see if there
 is anything we can do.
 It will depend on how many Liens per Cappata there turns out to be.
 Sorry that's the policy. f.cking terrible.
 People were homeless and completely broke from businesses being closed
 down, and giant unexpected amounts
 of money coming out of households for the exorbitant deductibles that
 popped up all of a sudden were told,
 by the way we are putting a federal lien on your home.. Needless to say
 Bush is generally hated around here.

 Charles Spitzer wrote:

 >i think you'll be lucky to find any insurance companies in business in the
 >state at some near point in time. creating laws to prevent them from
 >increasing rates/deductables to match losses is a really good way for them
 >to exit the state.
 >  
 >

 --
 Ric Seyler

 --------------------------------------
 "Homer no function beer well without."
 - H.J. Simpson