NormMitchell
Expert
- 43
An example from State Farm........ [EXTERNAL LINK] - Rental Condo Unitowners Insurance
Full time RVer never home with friends living at permanent residence
- Thread starter Dave1
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- #12
So the conclusion is me not physically residing there is an issue. I wonder how long I would have to stop traveling and physically "reside" there to qualify as such? A week? A month? Several months? There is nothing in the policy that says anything about this and as I said, I have no other address like a nursing home, a new home, a second home or moving in with a child. Would this still be an issue if I charged them nothing and let them live there for free? Based on the "Where you reside" link provided, I'm thinking it would still not be a good answer simply because based on the examples therein I'm not physically "residing" there. What do all of these New Yorkers and Canadians who come down to Florida only for the winter do? Many have huge homes and are gone for like nine months at a time. I'm guessing some kind of secondary coverage though that probably again won't apply to a homesteaded property.
If it isn't covered if I'm not there then I may just need to sell the place, which I really wanted to avoid and I'm not interested in owning a rental. I cannot believe that there is no good way to insure a place that is my own homesteaded property if I'm not physically there all the time. The DMV, for example, issues my driver license based on evidence that I live there, like the utility bill which is in my name but won't be if it is a rental. Based on that link, it sounds like even if I booted them from the place entirely tomorrow, I'm STILL not covered for anything.
That seems unreasonable to me as someone with the willingness and ability to pay someone for such coverage for the only piece of real estate I own and consider my home. Incredibly frustrating because it feels like I am doing something good for all involved by offering these kids a cheap place to stay while in school and benefitting me by having someone there watching my home which I am trying to properly insure in the unlikely event of a problem. I wonder if working with an asset protection attorney would be a viable option so if I do get sued, there is simply nothing to take. In the event of a judgment, homesteaded properties are excluded from available assets in bankruptcy in Florida (another good reason to keep homestead vs. rental). The risk cannot be that large as I said the liability portion they are charging me for is just $18 for $300k of Section II liability coverage. I'd be willing to pay the full $1k this policy costs just to avoid the potential for a bodily liability claim.
Is this something that Lloyd's of London or other type of specialized insurer may be interested in? The bottom line is it is just a couple of kids going to school living in my place and I don't want the liability associated with their parents suing me if one of them is injured or killed while drunk falling down the steps or something like that which could be millions of dollars. I can accept the rest of the risks, such as a fire, myself.
I am going to contact the agent tomorrow and probably go ahead and cancel the policy since it appears it isn't doing anything for me unless the agent can convince me otherwise and put it in writing. Everything was just said over the phone and on their initial online contact form. I have no evidence of anything in my possession, just this 33 page policy, which after talking to you fine folks, I'm now dubious that I'm covered at all.
As for the HOA, the HOA has never asked me for proof of any sort of condo policy and I don't remember signing anything at closing four years ago that said I needed to have it. I would think the title company would have made sure I had it at closing if it was required.
Thank you all for the responses. I learned a lot, including from that literally scary "Where you reside" link, which I'm pretty sure almost no one anywhere knows about. Now we know why so many people have these horror stories about insurers not paying for things. If there are any further thoughts, please reply as I'll be here until I figure something out or sell the place.
If it isn't covered if I'm not there then I may just need to sell the place, which I really wanted to avoid and I'm not interested in owning a rental. I cannot believe that there is no good way to insure a place that is my own homesteaded property if I'm not physically there all the time. The DMV, for example, issues my driver license based on evidence that I live there, like the utility bill which is in my name but won't be if it is a rental. Based on that link, it sounds like even if I booted them from the place entirely tomorrow, I'm STILL not covered for anything.
That seems unreasonable to me as someone with the willingness and ability to pay someone for such coverage for the only piece of real estate I own and consider my home. Incredibly frustrating because it feels like I am doing something good for all involved by offering these kids a cheap place to stay while in school and benefitting me by having someone there watching my home which I am trying to properly insure in the unlikely event of a problem. I wonder if working with an asset protection attorney would be a viable option so if I do get sued, there is simply nothing to take. In the event of a judgment, homesteaded properties are excluded from available assets in bankruptcy in Florida (another good reason to keep homestead vs. rental). The risk cannot be that large as I said the liability portion they are charging me for is just $18 for $300k of Section II liability coverage. I'd be willing to pay the full $1k this policy costs just to avoid the potential for a bodily liability claim.
Is this something that Lloyd's of London or other type of specialized insurer may be interested in? The bottom line is it is just a couple of kids going to school living in my place and I don't want the liability associated with their parents suing me if one of them is injured or killed while drunk falling down the steps or something like that which could be millions of dollars. I can accept the rest of the risks, such as a fire, myself.
I am going to contact the agent tomorrow and probably go ahead and cancel the policy since it appears it isn't doing anything for me unless the agent can convince me otherwise and put it in writing. Everything was just said over the phone and on their initial online contact form. I have no evidence of anything in my possession, just this 33 page policy, which after talking to you fine folks, I'm now dubious that I'm covered at all.
As for the HOA, the HOA has never asked me for proof of any sort of condo policy and I don't remember signing anything at closing four years ago that said I needed to have it. I would think the title company would have made sure I had it at closing if it was required.
Thank you all for the responses. I learned a lot, including from that literally scary "Where you reside" link, which I'm pretty sure almost no one anywhere knows about. Now we know why so many people have these horror stories about insurers not paying for things. If there are any further thoughts, please reply as I'll be here until I figure something out or sell the place.
- 2,797
That's not a policy.
I've emailed my State Farm agency for a copy of the policy booklet.
NormMitchell
Expert
- 43
This might help........ [EXTERNAL LINK] - Coastal Insurance Underwriters – Personal Lines Solutions
NormMitchell
Expert
- 43
Would putting the unit in a trust work to keep your Homestead exemption?...... [EXTERNAL LINK] - Florida Dept. of Revenue - FAQSearch
NormMitchell
Expert
- 43
His Landlords or a Condo policy rated as a rental unit would include Liability for the owner of the unit.
NormMitchell
Expert
- 43
The question is, does your unit have your furniture and other items in the unit? If I'm understanding correctly, you would be moving back to the unit if you stopped RVing full-time. They are staying there to have someone watching and taking care of the home while you are traveling? What if you stopped charging them rent and paying for utilities then you would not be renting the unit. If you had a wreck in your RV, you would be returning home and they would move out. I've attached a copy of the application to apply for the homestead exemption; read it and see if you can answer all the questions. Better yet pay a little for advice from an attorney.
- Thread starter
- #18
Yes. I would undoubtedly go right back to Florida and stay there until I could get another RV. Everything in the unit is mine (furniture, TV, beds, etc), except for any personal items the students have. The students could stay there too without an issue but they may choose to move out instead of living with us "old people". As I said there is no lease agreement or anything so they have no right to stay and I could just return what they paid me for the trouble of having to leave mid-semester. I would be ok with charging them zero but I'm not sure that solves the issue since I'm not physically there which seems to be a requirement for a condo policy. The place increases in value every month so it is worth keeping though I don't know if that will continue in this high interest rate environment.
As far as the homestead application, I could provide every single item listed. The only question is the last one asking for the names of any owners not residing on the property. I think this is targeted toward people with homesteaded homes in other states, not people living in RVs with no other address except the one they are applying for with the homestead. I grew up in Florida. My family lives there and I go back regularly for holidays and special occasions to visit them versus the places I visit in my RV without any reason to ever go back.
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- Thread starter
- #19
Maybe. I have a couple of friends who have done over the past few years due to changes in the law. You are right that I probably should get an attorney involved if I go this route and just in general to look over what I am doing here and make sure I'm protected and doing things legally.
- Thread starter
- #20
It looks like I still would need an underlying policy to use this excess coverage.
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