Just weeks before the start of hurricane season, thousands of homeowners in Southwest Florida have been rejected by their insurance companies. Letters from ASI-Progressive started going out this week. The company said last year it planned to drop about 100,000 policies. John Cunniff of Bonita Springs said he received one of the letters and immediately began looking for replacement coverage. “It just said they were reducing their exposure to hurricanes,” Cunniff said. said many people are in the same boat and in many cases people are being forced to pay more for coverage. “I think it’s a really big issue for a lot of people,” Cunniff said. The letters caught many people by surprise, even though Progressive announced a year ago that it was laying off in Florida because of the risks. Doug Nelans is an agent at The Insurancenter in Fort Myers and said he has hundreds of customers who are affected by the move. “Fortunately, ASI-Progressive has partnered with another insurance company to effectively bail out many policyholders and offer them an alternative policy prior to the expiration date,” Nelans said. While many policyholders are concerned about sticker shock when they go with a new company, Nelans said it shouldn’t be an immediate concern for people who are taken by Loggerhead Insurance. “Loggerhead understands this and they have promised to make every possible attempt to reduce or eliminate this sticker shock at least for the initial stages of this transition,” Nelans explained. , many policyholders will have to find another company, and it may not be that easy, as Cunniff said he had few options. “Coverage was very limited,” he said. With just 34 days until hurricane season begins, many people are scrambling to make sure they have company when their policy expires. Progressive is expected to continue sending more of these non-renewal notices in May and June.
Just weeks before hurricane season begins, thousands of Southwest Florida homeowners are being turned away by their insurance companies.
Letters from ASI-Progressive started going out this week. The company said last year it planned to drop about 100,000 policies.
John Cunniff of Bonita Springs said he received one of the letters and immediately began looking for replacement coverage.
“It just said they were reducing their exposure to a hurricane,” Cunniff said.
He said many people are in the same boat and in many cases people are being forced to pay more for coverage.
“I think it’s a really big issue for a lot of people,” Cunniff said.
The letters surprised many people, even though Progressive announced a year ago that they were laying off in Florida because of the risks.
Doug Nelans is an agent with The Insurancenter in Fort Myers and said he has hundreds of customers who are affected by the move.
“Fortunately, ASI-Progressive partnered with another insurance company to effectively bail out many of the policyholders and offer them an alternative policy before the expiration date,” Nelans said.
While many policyholders worry about sticker shock when they go with a new company, Nelans said that shouldn’t be an immediate concern for people who are taken by Loggerhead Insurance.
“Loggerhead understands this and they have promised to make every possible attempt to reduce or eliminate this sticker shock at least for the initial stages of this transition,” Nelans explained.
Many policyholders will have to find another company, though, and it may not be that easy, as Cunniff said there are few options.
“Coverage was very limited,” he said.
With just 34 days until hurricane season begins, many people are scrambling to make sure they have company when their policy expires.
Progressive is expected to continue sending more of these non-renewal notices in May and June.
