Florida Homeowners Insurance Coverage
If you're a homeowner in Florida, you may have heard that you can reduce your homeowners insurance coverage by opting out of things like adding a garage or putting in an outdoor fire pit. But what does this really mean?
Find out how much your policy will pay for what's inside versus outside using this handy guide from our partners at USAA.
Include all of the following before signing off:
Sheila walks along the beach one morning, connecting with the coast. The sun streams down through a thin layer of clouds, brushing her face and warming her skin. Suddenly she feels an icy chill. Sheila stops to look at a piece of driftwood. She picks it up and looks at it as if she is examining a long-lost friend.
Suddenly, the wind shifts. A flurry of sea foam bubbles around the edges of the driftwood and then the entire object lifts off its resting place on the beach and floats away. The buoyant wood sends tiny waves out into the surf, which in turn send small ripples to each neighbor along the shoreline, all of which ripple back and forth before finally disappearing into nothingness. Sheila watches as her old friend becomes lost somewhere on those waves that may or may not reach her own location again. The entire episode lasts less than a minute, and she never hears a sound.
Sheila calls her insurance company to get an idea of what coverage her policy will pay for. Even though the insurance company's website says homeowners policies can't cover driftwood, Sheila's agent is able to find a clause that includes driftwood in its definition of "personal property" under the policy so living it creates coverage for Sheila. The insurance company pays Sheila $8,000 because stormsurges are one of the listed perils on the policy.
Sheila's next door neighbor noisily leaves his house for work in the morning, and Sheila goes to see him off. He asks if she is going to walk to work today. Sheila replies that she walks every morning and would like to do so again. He doesn't think it's safe, however, so she looks him in the eyes and tells him that if he ever needs her help he just has to call her. That was what she told a man on the beach when he asked why he should let her go out into dangerous surf with driftwood.
After work, Sheila sees a place with some driftwood on display within a few hundred yards of where she usually finds it. She becomes enthused about finding a new spot to sit and relax for an hour or two each day, and she calls her insurance company to ask about the policy provision that states that materials like driftwood are covered. The agent says it is true and can tell her the exact page in the policy where that is stated. Sheila researches what other things are covered by this provision, too. She also writes down all she can remember about the event when her old friend drifted away on the waves. This time, she has a cell phone and calls the insurance company back to report what happened. The agent informs Sheila that the provision is only good for driftwood that is "relocatable." She confesses that she could not find anything in the Internet about how much coverage was included for driftwood that was non-relocatable.
Sheila receives a letter from her insurance company saying they will seek their policy limit of $8,000 on behalf of Sheila. Sheila doesn't want to bother with a lawsuit over this small amount of money. Her next door neighbor feels hurt and guilty when he thinks about what Sheila told him as he watches the waves roll in while he sleeps in his house every night.
The most difficult part of any settlement is determining how people feel about it. In this case, there is a settling party (Sheila) and an injured party (her neighbor). The settlement changes the relationship between them. There may be other injured parties who are not present at the time of the negotiation.
A third party represented by their own attorney (the insurance company) will also be involved in the negotiation. This party has a role to play in determining how people feel about it, as well. The negotiator must accommodate, accommodate, and accommodate all parties involved on both sides of the dispute to reach a mutual agreement on how they feel about settlement terms. It is critical to understand how the other party feels about it and what compromises may be asked of them.
The importance of including two sides in any settlement negotiation cannot be overstated. The more people a party can bring to the table, the more leverage each side has to get what they want out of the settlement. If one side doesn't feel included, then they will always try to find ways around it and may even fight against it in court if there are no other options remaining.
Pain is a natural response when people are injured or their interests are directly affected by an event that occurred. It is also a natural response when people have different viewpoints about the relative worth of an item or issue that is affected by an accident.
Emotions will be more present in negotiations involving serious injury or death. In Sheila's case, she may not want to leave her house if she fears being attacked by her neighbor. If she doesn't feel safe walking through her neighborhood, this could affect her ability and willingness to attend community events or even leave her home at all. She could become depressed because of the loss of time to enjoy places where she once felt carefree and happy.
Her neighbor may not feel right about the settlement because he is not able to enjoy his home as freely as before. He may worry that Sheila will take things into her own hands to get back at him. He may fear losing his home in a foreclosure if Sheila doesn't pay. He may have been emotionally attached to the driftwood that was lost in the storm because it reminded him of trips with his family or a late-night bonfire with friends.
Sheila's insurance company also has a right to be involved in negotiations because they are paying some of the costs for damage inflicted on someone else's property or person. They should be involved, but they are not representative of her emotions about it. If the insurance company does not agree with Sheila's view of the situation and how she has been treated, they may try to portray her as stubborn or delusional.
If Sheila's neighbor is a homeowner and has coverage from his insurance company, he will probably want to know the amount he is personally responsible for. He may ask for a discount so that he can live in peace.
“I feel like you guys took advantage of me when I was hurt.”
The small, flea-bitten dog sticks his head out from under a battered pickup truck in front of Sally's house.
Conclusion: The dog has no more choice than Sally does as to how they are treated in the world. He is stuck with the same restrictions that people have - he can't fly, he can't bark, and he has to be quiet after 10 p.m. He cannot go underground or swim among the whales. His fate is sealed by those who created him on this earth.
What makes a good compromise depends on how much each party cares about what they are negotiating for and the relative amounts at stake in the negotiation.