Split home owner insurance Yea or Nay????

Question

Hello BP community, looking on reading your opinion about the following:

Situation: Currently my wife and I finished a deep rehab on our latest duplex in Ft. Lauderdale (Changed roofs, added impact windows, plumbing, the whole 9 yards...). After we finished we thought, sure enough our insurance premium should go down since we added a ton of value and updated everything and turns out that it wasn´t the case if we wanted to have only one policy. (Citizens of course).

Not conformed by the situation I contacted several Insurance brokers and one came back telling me that we can do a "split policy" one that covers the wind mitigation insurances, and another one that offers liability and all the other coverages... (By doing this I'll be saving a couple thousand dollars a year)

The big question: Is this recommended? Would I have any issues with the insurance company in case something happens? When I asked one of the insurance broker I've worked in the past, she told me that it wasn´t recommended because if insurance companies know that you have another policy, they wont cover you. So I don´t know if this a total lie or if she just wanted to sell their insurance policy.

Thanks for your opinion and looking forward to read you!

John Mocker · Answer

Fernando,

This question is best answered by a FL agent.  In most states Windstorm coverage is part of the Homeowners policy.  In FL there is a Windstorm Pool for coverage in certain parts of the state.  The problem you are concerned about is how the two policies would interact in a claim.  Most likely, the Homeowners coverage would have a strict windstorm exclusion.  In order for their to be interaction, it would need to be a claim that involved both wind and some other covered perils.

Other factors that you should check are:

1. does the citizens policy provide better coverage than the separate policies or the reverse

2. how does the claims paying ability of citizens compare to the two separate policies

3. is either more likely to renew coverage

Fernando Tello · Answer

John, Thank you very much for your reply. So from what I understood in your reply, is that their shouldn't be any issue of "interaction" between the policies as long as they don't cover the same peril? (Meaning only a policy that covers windstorm, and another that would cover Liability, Personal, dwelling etc..). Furthermore, thank you very much for the rest of the tips, I do not know how to evaluate the "Paying ability", could you expand a little more. Thanks Again!