Maybe all three.
If you own a home in Lake Worth Beach… or anywhere in Palm Beach County… you already know the insurance market here is not like anywhere else. National carriers exit without warning. Policies get non-renewed because a roof is twelve years old and inspected fine. Citizens starts to feel like the only option, and then they threaten to take-out your policy for something higher.
It is exhausting. And most of the time, nobody explains any of it.
That is what we do.
A & J Insurance Services is an independent homeowners insurance agency in Lake Worth Beach. We shop a wide panel of A-rated national and regional carriers simultaneously, we re-shop your policy every 6 to 12 months automatically, and we answer our own phone. No phone tree. No voicemail during business hours. One call.
Reviewed July 2026 · Roberto Ramos Jr., Licensed 2-20 P&C Agent · FL License #P111106 · Serving Palm Beach County since 2007
After a string of insurer insolvencies between 2021 and 2023, nine Florida property insurers failed. That forced tens of thousands of homeowners into Citizens Property Insurance, the state’s insurer of last resort, or onto a shrinking list of regional carriers repricing aggressively.
Two major reform packages — signed in May 2022 and December 2022 — eliminated assignment of benefits abuse, repealed one-way attorney fees, and changed how roof claims work. The market is stabilizing. New carriers are entering.
That is real relief. Whether you are seeing it depends on your carrier, your coverage, and whether anyone is actively watching your renewal.
For the deeper statewide picture, see our Florida homeowners insurance guide.
Under F.S. 627.7011 and SB 2-A, a carrier may not refuse to issue or renew a homeowners policy solely because a roof is under 15 years old. For a roof that is 15 years or older, the homeowner may request an inspection. If the inspector finds the roof has 5 or more years of useful life remaining, the carrier must continue coverage. That is the law.
Carriers price aggressively by roof age. Many settle older roofs at actual cash value — meaning they pay the depreciated value of the roof, not what it costs to replace it — rather than replacement cost. That distinction can mean tens of thousands of dollars at claim time, and it lives in your policy language, not in a statute.
The median home in this city was built in 1969. Roughly 88% of homes here were built before 2000 — before the Florida Building Code’s 2002 wind standards took effect. (U.S. Census ACS.) A lot of roofs here are older. And older roofs mean more exposure to non-renewal threats, higher pricing, and coverage questions worth understanding before something happens.
Most Florida homeowners have a hurricane deductible. Most do not know how large it is until after a storm.
Under Florida law (F.S. 627.701), insurers must offer hurricane deductible options of $500, 2%, 5%, or 10% of the dwelling coverage limit. The deductible applies once per calendar year, not per storm event. Try your own numbers:
out of pocket before your carrier pays anything on a named-storm claim
Applies once per calendar year, not per storm event. (F.S. 627.701)
Some carriers now offer a roof deductible of up to the lesser of 2% of the dwelling limit or 50% of the roof replacement cost. It does not apply to named-hurricane roof damage. And it comes with a premium credit — but the tradeoff is worth understanding before you sign.
This is not fine print. It is a number that will matter the day you need it most. When we write your policy, we walk through the deductible you have and what it means in real dollars for your home.
Your homeowners policy does not cover flood. Not storm surge. Not rising canal water. Not water entering through the ground during a heavy rain event. Not under any condition. Flood is a completely separate policy.
In Lake Worth Beach, the NFIP CRS Class 6 designation means qualifying policyholders can receive a 20% discount on NFIP flood premiums — a real benefit that only applies if you actually have the policy. We access flood coverage through Wright Flood.
Homeowners insurance covers sudden, accidental losses. It does not cover gradual deterioration, deferred maintenance, or things that were wrong before the policy started. This is one of the most common reasons claims get denied.
Florida law (F.S. 627.706) requires all homeowners policies to cover catastrophic ground cover collapse. But actual sinkhole coverage is a separate optional add-on. Palm Beach County is comparatively low-risk for sinkholes — the higher-risk zone is central and northwest Florida — but the distinction matters if you are buying a policy and assuming it is included.
Most carriers require a four-point inspection — covering roof, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC — to bind coverage on homes 20 to 30 years old or older. It is not a statute. It is a market-wide underwriting standard. If your home fails on one of those four systems, you may not be able to get coverage until it is repaired.
Florida law (F.S. 627.711 and 627.0629) requires carriers to give premium credits for wind-resistant features documented on the uniform form OIR-B1-1802. The credits are mandatory. They vary by carrier and by how your home is built.
Florida law deems every homeowners policy to include 25% law-and-ordinance coverage unless the homeowner refuses it in writing, with a 50% option available. (F.S. 627.7011.) This matters for older homes because if a partial loss triggers a rebuild, current building code may require upgrades that your base dwelling limit does not cover. For a home built in 1969 being rebuilt after a storm, code requirements have changed significantly since the structure was first built.
We are an independent agency. We do not represent any single carrier. We represent you.
When you call us for a homeowners quote, we go to market across a wide panel of A-rated national and regional carriers — through direct appointments and broker access — and bring you real options. Not one take-it-or-leave-it number.
Palm Beach County is in the Wind-Borne Debris Region but not the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (Miami-Dade and Broward). That distinction affects what coverage you need and which carriers will write it here.
And if your situation is complicated — older roof, Citizens question, non-renewal notice — that is exactly the conversation we are built for. We have been navigating this market in Lake Worth Beach since 2007.
We re-shop your policy every 6 to 12 months automatically. The Florida homeowners market moves. Carriers enter, exit, reprice, and change underwriting standards. A carrier that was competitive last renewal may not be this year. Most agents place your policy and go quiet until you call them with a problem. We check the market before you have to ask.
Roberto Ramos Jr. has been placing homeowners insurance in Palm Beach County since 2007. He handles every quote personally. He answers his own phone. He knows his clients by name. Fluent in English and Spanish.
The homeowners insurance market in South Florida has frustrated a lot of people. Carriers come and go. Rates move. Non-renewal letters arrive without warning and with no one to call who actually knows your situation.
We have been in this market since 2007. We have seen the cycles. We know which carriers are writing in Palm Beach County right now, which ones are leaving, and how to shop a policy that will actually hold.
If you have a non-renewal letter, a rate you cannot explain, or a policy you have never fully understood — call us. We will tell you honestly whether you are in a good place or whether we can do better. No charge. No pressure.
We have been here since 2007. We are not going anywhere.
