Well, as I've been searching for insurance quotes for the scuby, I'm amazed at how much better off my bills are out here.  In Florida, I would have had to pay MINIMUM $180 for both cars, and I'm gonna get it for just over half that here.  Partly because Florida has so many uninsurable illegals who cause a lot of damage, partly because of all the snowbirds who can't drive, and partly because the insurance companies use hurricane damage as an excuse, although there hasn't been any major hurricane damage in a few years, and no statewide damage in well over a decade.

That got me thinking, though, about home insurance quotes.  I found a website here that claims Florida is over twice as much as Virginia, but that it also doesn't account for Citizens, the last choice insurance for Florida.  The way it works is that they managed to get special deals from the state for sticking around when it's "not profitable" to insure in Florida.  A few years ago when those 5 hurricanes rolled through, most of the insurance companies hauled ass out of the state.  The few that remained raised their premiums and got more selective about who they would insure.  Citizens picked up an incredible amount of the state's property insurance, and increased their premiums something like 400% over the next few years, getting special permission from the state government each time.  Point of the history lesson: even though that site claims and average of $1300 yearly for insurance, it doesn't count Citizens, which was substantially higher.  My best quote was less than Citizens, and I had to pay $3200 a year!!!  Mind you, it was about 1000 sq ft, only two bedrooms and a great sized yard (yards don't cost much to insure.)

What a crock.