WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Canceled policies and rising premiums for homeowners insurance are also hitting hard residents of Florida's manufactured and mobile homes.
"My insurance went from $2,300, and the lowest bid that I got was $6,000," Therese Burch of Naples said.
Burch lives in a manufactured home and was forced to shop around after being canceled by her insurer.
She said her best option was with Citizens Insurance, the state-backed insurer of last resort, but it came with a requirement that she buy flood insurance.
"We were just looking to insure our home the same as it was before for around $60,000," Burch said.
"A lot of companies are leaving. Anybody that's still remaining in the market space has very strict guidelines," Robert Norberg of Arden Insurance said referring to the mobile and manufactured home insurers. "Most of them we see are going to Citizens. We try the admitted companies, but it just doesn't fit."
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Citizens has been trying to lower their policy numbers in Florida by having private insurers make take-out offers over concerns it is too overexposed in the event of a major storm.
Norberg said the other option these homeowners have may be to drop wind coverage if they own their home and don't have a mortgage, but it requires discipline to save money.
"Most of the clients I talk to, if they still have a mortgage, you've got to pay what you got to pay," Norberg said. "If they don't, which a lot of them do not, we can streamline the policy a little bit by taking off the wind [coverage] maybe, giving them property and liability only."
If you have any questions or issues with homeowners insurance, email WPTV reporter Matt Sczesny at matt.sczesny@wptv.com