Tens of thousands of people are scrambling to find new insurance right now in the middle of hurricane season as Farmers Insurance cancellation notices continue going out.
However, finding a company can be a bit of a challenge right now after more than half a dozen companies have either pulled out of Florida or gone insolvent in the last 18 months.
Louis Victorious is one of those who had a lot of storm damage to both his business and his home because of Hurricane Ian. In fact, he actually dropped his insurance after he had difficulty getting them to pay out. But now, headed into hurricane season, he just got reinsured.
“I was frantically searching,” Victorious said.
He was competing with the 100,000 people looking for insurance after they were dropped by Farmers.
“After the hurricane, we decided to stop carrying insurance because nobody paid out anything anyways, and we were so set back from that experience,” Victorious explained.
He lost nearly everything in Hurricane Ian.
However, insurance was required, and he just recently was able to get a policy he could afford.
“Just in time for hurricane season, yes,” he noted.
Reid McDaniel with McDaniel Insurance Solutions in North Fort Myers, like many agents, is scrambling to help people with cancellation notices find new policies.
“We’ve been pretty busy with people calling that either they had Farmers’ policies or maybe they have one of their ancillary carriers, and they’re not sure what to do,” McDaniel said.
Farmers Insurance now must file what’s called a market exit plan that will have to be approved by the state.
Read More: Residents search for new insurance companies as hurricane season progresses