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Despite No Hurricanes, Floridians Facing $718 Million Insurance Hike
December 28, 2010
More than four million Florida homeowners are about to get hit with $718 million in insurance rate increases — despite five years with no hurricanes in the Sunshine State.
Insurers in Florida claimed they have been losing money. But, for many, their financial filings show profits that were paid to their own affiliated companies, according to an article published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Consumer advocates say the payments from Florida insurance companies to their own affiliates falsely adds hundreds of dollars to each individual homeowner’s property insurance bill.
More than two million homeowners in Florida have been dropped by their carriers, and the average premium in the state is up 44 percent.
Comments
11 Responses to “Despite No Hurricanes, Floridians Facing $718 Million Insurance Hike”
Why should we keep paying for insurance on the beaches when people know they are in harms way. We cannot keep refurbishing the sand. but those of us who live in the north end of the county pay the same rates as the beachfront oweners. Our rate has really tripled and we are senior citizens. It makes you sick to see the difference 3 miles up the road in Alabama in what those AL residents pay and what we pay. I would never recommend anyone buying property in Florida. It doesn’t matter if hurricanes come or not the insurance companies are going to escalate their prices. the Sunshine State used to be the place the live but no more. Do you ever wonder whey the snowbirds are coming to AL now? No jobs available for our people. Come on someone, start an insurance company with affordable rates and see what happens. In any large city, look for the talltest,most expensive bldg.and it’s an insurnace company. Does that tell you anything?
This another slam on seniors and low income folks! maybe they just want us all to move away from Florida…if housing prices weren’t so low right now I bet a bunch of us would move! So sincehousing costs have dropped why are insurance companies raising their rates??? It will cost less to replace these houses if something does happen!
My father explained insurance to me this way when I started driving – ” Insurance is a combination of gambling & racketeering, the insurance co. is gambling nothing will happen to you and racketeering with government support as it is a legal requirement for you to have insurance “. I’ve always remembered this lesson and apparently it is still true today.
I understand that insurance companies has to recover losses but this is a bit much. The problem is they never reduce the rate after recovering the loss. It then becomes profit. Now there is nothing wrong with making profit but it needs to be with in reason. So, where you need be complaining is to the OIC offfice of the insurance commissioner. As he or she or they (their deputies) are who controls the rates. A lot of people do not realize how important that job is until something like this occurs or an insurance company fails. So call their office and lodge a formal complaint. Then if you need file a class action law suit aginst the operating insurance companies in Florida who are responsible for the rate increases. That for sure will get their attention. Just stay focused in the correct direction. That’s my two cents on the matter for what ever it is worth. LOL!
RR, your point about the state being only affordable for the upper class has a thread of truth. The state’s past history of a laissez-faire attitude on coastal development, enjoying its side benefits of tourism, property tax dollars, etc. has created a situation that appears to be unsustainable. For every large development allowed on the fragile coastlines of the state, you have increased the cost of services by municipalities which are substantially higher than inland services, and created structures with very high life cycle cost. How many times can we afford to rebuild a structure on the beach? Then there is the natural shifting of barrier islands and coastlines in direct conflict with the structures built upon them. It is a fool’s paradise all the development along the coastlines, which should have been left natural and forced development inland to more sustainable property. This would have reduced cost from damage, for services to the development and left the beaches open for all to enjoy. But that didn’t happen and now the whole state suffers.
Think how much each subsequent hurricane or tropical storm strike costs. Those two years with Ivan and Katrina ran up an amazing about of cost. These are estimates by NOAA:
04: Charly was 15 billion, Frances was 9 billion, Ivan was 14 billion and Jeanne was 6.9 billion.
05: Dennis was 2 billion, Katrina was 100 billion, Rita was 10 billion and Wilma was 10 billion.
I guess it’s not right to assume, that can get you in trouble. I think, however, that since the Consumer Advocates have noticed that the rate increases were falsely added to the homeowners insurances, Someone in government will notice and be able to do something about it before it gets too bad. I just hope it doesn’t take too long and I pray for our leaders to be led to do what is right.
Car Insurance companirs ask for a rate increase and are turned down. How can home insurance be allowed to get an increase when there are more car crashes that occur every year? Apparently if car crashes only occured every five years or so,it would cause our rates to sky rocket according to their logic.
I may have to eat my words later,but for the time being lets let the new officials get into office and give them every benefit of the doubt, and then start pointing fingers. Insurance rates have nothing to do with our Gov Elect, he is inheriting a lot of problems he had nothing to do with. Come on give the new officials a fighting chance.
Between properety taxes and insurance Florida has been working diligently toward becoming a “rich man’s” state for several years now. It is hard for the normal working class person to be able to afford to stay here. The job force is terrible, taxes and insurance too high. You either need to be poverty and fully on the system or upper middle class to wealthy. Otherwise you better find another state as many have lately.
The man is not even in office yet and big business is starting too milk us becuase they know they have the upper hand now!!!
Yep my insurance went up to what it was after Ivan.