At the recommendation of my insurance broker, I purchase rental insurance from St. Johns Insurance Company for my residential property in Pensacola, Florida. Within three weeks, I was sent a cancellation notice due to the presence of a "trampoline" on the property. Neither I nor my property manager was aware that the tenant had placed a trampoline on the property in violation of the lease. I contacted the tenant and had them immediately remove the trampoline. I also contacted St. Johns and explained the situation to them and noted that the issue had been immediately corrected, and I wanted the insurance coverage reinstated, they flatly refused without giving me any valid reason other than it was a violation of the coverage. They were arrogant, ignorant and deceitful on the phone and gave me the run around. Their refusal to reinstate was arbitrary and indefensible.
I called my insurance broker who also tried to have the policy reinstated, St. John's refused. I contacted the State of Florida Department of Finance, they also were refused by St. Johns. I learned the State of Florida has no powers to compel a company to reinstate coverage regardless of the situation. St. Johns initially stated that they would not reinstate because I was an out of state owner, they were told that I had a local property manager. Then they changed the reason to something else. Please be aware that I have NEVER filed a insurance claim, have excellent credit and the house is in immaculate condition in a very nice residential neighborhood. They simply refused to reinstate my policy providing no good cause or reason. The application I filled out never disclosed that they could arbitrarilly terminate coverage. I spoke with a dozen other insurance companies and they were shocked over how St. Johns Insurance company handled this situation. This company should be booted out of Florida for their shabby consumer practices. It cost me an extra $200 for a new premium and hours on the phone trying to explain to other agents why this POS company cancelled me.
Florida needs new insurance laws to run these types of companies, like St. Johns out of Florida for dishonest business practices. It's a shame that Florida politicians don't take the time to investigate and prosecute companies like St. Johns Insurance and run them right out of the state.
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