Insurance company is balking because I don't live in the property

[Maged Bishara]

How is everyone? Quick question. As an investor we, obviously, don't live in our investment properties.

The issue is that my insurance company didn;t want to renew the policy today because the house is a vacation rental, meaning that it rents only for around 4 1/2 months out of the year.

The balance of the year we use it as a second family home (we come and go all the time and we do enjoy the property).

So we're in the house for about three to four months out of the year and have it rented for about another four months during the year.

Does anybody have trouble insuring their vacation rental properties in Florida? And if someone has some good solutions or options then it will be greatly appreciated. Because I have a feeling that the different insurance companies that I'm going to shop around with are going to hike the rates tremendously.

I prefer to be upfront with them right from the beginning about the usage of the property to avoid any issues down the road. I just hadn't realized that this would be an issue last year when we insured the property. But when they asked me this time, upon renewal, I told them exactly how this specific property is being utilized.

Thanks and any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.