April 24, 2024, WPTV-TV, West Palm Beach – “The weather, litigation, reinsurance, it’s all crashing in on the residents in these condos,” Lisa Miller, a former deputy insurance commissioner now the head of Lisa Miller Associates, said. The higher prices, Miller said, are now part of the new normal for condos, especially those near the water like Auer’s home. “She’s got to keep putting putty on every single crack she can find and try to convince that insurance agent and insurance company, because she’s sitting on the water in a 30 year-old structure. That’s all there is to it.” (Original story location, including video version: https://www.wptv.com/money/real-estate-news/everyone-is-selling-florida-condo-owners-feel-crush-of-rising-insurance-costs)
NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. – The rising cost of home insurance for one Palm Beach County condo is a story that seems to playing out at condos all across Florida.
“It’s shocking to watch in a few years to go from under $100,000 to pushing a half a million,” Christina Auer said. “It’s out of line.”
That fast increase in just a couple of years trickles down to the condo residents, who pay for it in their monthly fees.
All of this is happening even after Auer said her building has undergone extensive inspections and improvements.
“Engineers surveyed it all. The structural integrity is perfect now, and there was no deduction like you normally should get,” Auer said referring to the building’s insurance policy.
Insurance experts tell WPTV that the days of cheaper policies are not coming back.
“The weather, litigation, reinsurance, it’s all crashing in on the residents in these condos,” Lisa Miller, a former deputy insurance commissioner now the head of Lisa Miller Associates, said.
The higher prices, Miller said, are now part of the new normal for condos, especially those near the water like Auer’s home.
“She’s got to keep putting putty on every single crack she can find and try to convince that insurance agent and insurance company, because she’s sitting on the water in a 30 year-old structure. That’s all there is to it.”
“Everyone is selling,” Auer said about her neighbors struggling with the insurance costs. “The cost is so great the condos aren’t selling as quick as they were.”
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