The latest figures from the Insurance Information Institute show that property insurance rates in Florida are the third highest in the nation.

While soaring costs are putting many homeowners in a financial bind, experts say not having insurance could be far more expensive -especially if you have a mortgage.

"Part of the requirement for getting a home loan is that you have proper coverage on your house," said Weston real estate attorney Roy Oppenheim.

If you don't, your lender can force-place a policy on your home.

"And that can cost eight times more than a standard homeowners policy," Oppenheim said.

Ryan and Blossom Grant where stunned when a force-placed policy on their house in Homestead came with a $25,000 premium.

"We couldn't understand why it was so high," Ryan Grant said.

Tom Zutell, with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, explained that forced-placed insurance is considered high risk which is part of the reason it's so much more expensive.

"This is actually a commercial policy covering the bank for the value of the loan," Zutell said.

That means a force-placed policy provides no personal protection for the property owner.

"If your home has a fire or other hazard your contents are not covered under a forced-placed policy," Zutell said. "You also won't have the benefit of the other protections a personal policy would provide."

Under state law, lenders must notify customers in writing that coverage is being force-placed.

"Realize that this only happens after property owners have failed to get their own insurance, so they are ultimately responsible for being force-placed," Zutell said.

There are situations where lenders erroneously force-place a policy on a property.

"In those cases the solution is simple," said Zutell. "Send your lender a copy of your current declaration page with proof the premium has been paid and the force-placed policy will be removed at no cost."

Once the Grants purchased their own property coverage, the force-placed policy was removed but they still owe $8000 for the cost of the force-placed policy during the time they weren't covered.

Loan experts told us the cost of force-placed insurance is often spread out over several payments to ease the financial burden of paying all at once.