Full disclosure, most correspondences were through my Personal Assistant and then immediately…read morerelayed to myself before any follow up was completed
Very disappointed...
In late May, I received an email from Bridget with Ostroff Insurance Group that they were receiving returned mail. I replied to the email that I had moved, did she have my current address? I received no reply, and the email escaped my mind for about a week.
I reached out to the company again via telephone, the first week of June, and explained to Bridget that I had moved, and the home she was receiving returned mail on, was now non-owner occupied and I planned to start renting it out, effective immediately. She informed me that I would need to speak with Marc, as the policy would need to be updated. I told her to have him call me.
Once Marc reached out to me, and I explained the situation, he informed me that Florida Penn would cancel my insurance and that I'd need a new one (non owner occupied). He also advised that I would need some inspections completed, as the house was old and a new policy would require these inspections. He recommended a gentleman. I agreed, and called the inspector on June 8 and made arrangements for him to inspect the house on June 9. That gentleman was to send the completed inspections to Marc, and we would proceed with the new policy. I received a letter from Florida Penn that they were canceling my insurance on Nov. 8, as the change of address alerted them that the house was no longer owner occupied.
Fast forward to present day. I hadn't received any new information, and to be honest, it did escape my mind, as I am working on other projects. I decided to hire a Property Management Company and they let me know that I would need to send them a current insurance declaration page for the property. Since I knew that my insurance was to be canceled on 11/8, I needed to find out exactly what was and was not covered as the property was vacant. Again, had to call Marc at Ostroff. Once he returned my call and I explained that I hadn't heard from him, he admitted that he had not received the completed inspections from the gentleman he recommended and would need to reach out to him to receive them. I let him know that I planned on renting the property out and needed to know what my current insurance allowed in terms of what was covered. Technically, the property was not insured if vacant, but Marc advised that I should just leave it as it currently stood, since the insurance was not being canceled until November and then I could change it once I had an actual tenant in the house. It's a "grey" area, he called it. Otherwise, I'd have to purchase vacant property insurance which "is very expensive." He said he would send me the forms that the Property Management Group asked for and just "leave out the letter about the insurance canceling you in November. They're not really smart enough to figure it out anyway." But what happens if something happens to the property between now and when I get it rented? Marc admitted that "if there was a fire and the house burned down and you filed a claim, then no, the insurance probably wouldn't cover it." Then why am I paying for the insurance? How is this benefiting me at all? I told him to cancel my insurance immediately and credit me the pro-rated difference.
I'm just very disappointed that Marc would advise me to keep what I currently have and kind of cheat my way around everything. It's very shady business dealing, and has HUGE repercussions if something happens to the property (which is why we purchase insurance in the first place). This whole experience just left a very bad taste in my mouth and I will never work with this company again or recommend them to anyone.
