Florida's home insurance crisis: Investigating the risk, cost of underinsured homes

Underinsured homes after last year's hurricanes

Craig Patrick reports.

MOUNT DORA, Fla. - In the aftermath of the 2024 hurricanes, Florida homeowners whose homes are underinsured are encountering steep costs in their efforts to rebuild.

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Hurricane Milton ripped gaping holes through Barbara Barth’s house in Mount Dora. A tree sliced through it, blistering boards and spilled nails insulation through the hallways. She called 911 to help her escape.

"It was horrific," she said. "And almost a year later, I'm still displaced from my house."

Barbara Barth's home was badly damaged during Hurricane Milton.

An engineer examined the damage and estimated it would cost up to $304,000 to repair. She found a contractor who would do it for $289,000, but her policy maxed out at $241,000. After the costs of tree and debris removal, she's around $60,000 short.

"You're out of pocket a lot of money that you never thought when you signed up for home insurance," she said.

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She can’t live in her house until contractors complete the repairs, and she has spent her policy's limit for temporary lodging. She said it drained her savings, and she is borrowing from her son to cover the gap.

"There were so many limits what you could do and couldn't do… I wouldn't have understood them or known them if I had read the policy 50 times over," she said. "And they don't go over it with you. The insurance company doesn't go over it with you."

She hired a public adjuster, who gets a percentage of any settlements – and they are now pursuing additional payments for debris removal, costs of required upgrades, and damaged contents.

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As underinsured as she was, Barbara does not think her policy is paying out what it should.

"If you didn't pay your premium, they'd be at your door pretty fast. But when you want the money that you're entitled to, nobody even returns your phone calls," she said.

What's next:

As Barbara Barth and others seek additional help, state officials and consumer watchdogs are considering additional reforms to ease the cost of insurance and the process for filing claims.

Watch our 30-minute special on Monday, May 26 at 12:30 p.m. and/or stream our special coverage on the FOX Local app.

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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Craig Patrick.

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