In 2016, when María Gómez and her husband bought a house in southwest Miami-Dade, making sure it wouldn’t cost them much.
“I started paying $2,400, a good policy that would cover the full value of my house in the event of something like a hurricane. Today, with the current policy that I have, I pay $7,500,” Gómez explains.
But recently they received a notice from their insurer saying they would not be renewing their cover in June because they were controlling the risk of the business, what is called “risk exposure and management”. .
Juan “JJ” Pérez, a real estate attorney, says insurers are free to make the decision to “continue insuring or not renew a property’s insurance.”
Maria says she immediately tried to get another insurance and each company demanded an inspection first. This inspection revealed a defect.
“The same inspector told me ‘you’re going to have problems because your house has polybutylene pipes’,” says María.
Plumber Moisés Ferro, owner of Elite Plumbing Septic and Sewer Company, says polybutylene pipes were used between 1974 and 1995.
“They took them off the market because they caused a lot of trouble…they tended to break the ties or the mice would eat them and they would start leaking and houses would fill with water,” says Ferro. .
Maria Gomez says her home has absolutely no plumbing problems, but she hasn’t found an insurer who will offer coverage if she doesn’t replace the polybutylene pipes.
“It’s expensive. I’ve already done several quotes from various plumbing companies and the cheapest so far for plumbing work is $14,500. And to that I have to add that it destroys almost half of my house, said Maria.
Seeking to see if the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens, would offer coverage, we contacted them and were told, “Like most others in the insurance business, Citizens does not insure properties with polybutylene pipes”…
Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation told us that “the insurer may consider the age of the home, roof, plumbing, electrical wiring, or heating and air conditioning” when offering coverage.
What about homeowners who don’t have home insurance?
“Since I don’t have insurance, what the bank does is take an insurance company with basic insurance that covers what I owe on the debt,” says María.
Attorney Pérez warned that “generally, this type of compulsory and forced policy costs up to five times more than a normal policy”.
So Maria says she’ll see how to fund the repair and tells her story to alert others to be vigilant as many may not know what’s behind the wall.
According to plumber Moisés Ferro, many homeowners have trouble identifying if they have this pipe, so he recommends calling a licensed contractor to do it.
When buying a house, the seller must disclose if he has these pipes and many times he will change them or offer the buyer a discount to replace them. We contacted the insurer who did not renew Maria’s policy but received no response.