Less than a week ago, I wrote about the hopeless fight of Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate against incoming rate hikes at Citizens.
The State Regulatory Office not only approved but increased on the request of Citizens for certain policies.
Against public hearing advice; against the public advocate's advice,
this is the type of decision that do not benefit middle class and the dream of home-ownership.
And it's just the beginning.
Read what we read on the subject at FloridaRealtors.org
State regulators approve Citizens rate hikes
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sept. 9, 2015
State-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. received approval for 2016 rate
changes on Tuesday, with some tweaks to their original proposal that's expected
to spread additional costs to policyholders in coastal areas.
The Florida Office of Insurance
Regulation approved average rate changes equating to 1.8 percent on residential
multi-peril accounts – an increase from the 1.3 percent requested by Citizens.
The office also set an average 8.3 percent increase for residential wind-only
policies; Citizens had asked for 9 percent.
"The office modified some of
Citizens' recommended rates to address key issues cited as causes for
increasing homeowners' insurance costs for policyholders in South Florida and
on the coast," Citizens said in a release.
The new rates will vary by county
and a property's location, home style and type of policy. There's a great
chance policyholders in Southeast Florida will see a rate increase compared to
homeowners in other parts of the state.
Even with the rate increases,
Citizens expects overall rates to come down for about 60 percent of its
policyholders. The order includes no changes for sinkhole coverage, though it
increases rates on mobile home coverage.
The order, which came two weeks
after a public hearing on Citizens' 2016 rate proposal, also advises Citizens
not to pass the cost of reinsurance on to policyholders; instead, reinsurance
should be treated as an expense, according to Citizens spokesman Michael
Peltier. Reinsurance is effectively backup coverage for insurers if they're
called up to cover large claims.
Florida insurance consumer advocate
Sha'Ron James had earlier asked Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to
"strongly consider" the large amount of reinsurance purchased by
Citizens before making any decision on the company's requested rate hike.
Citizens President and CEO Barry
Gilway argued during last month's public hearing that a "disturbing"
rise in water-damage claims in South Florida had driven the need for much of
the proposed rate increases.
Citizens entered the six-month
Atlantic storm season with a $7.5 billion surplus, the highest in its history,
and $3.9 billion in reinsurance coverage from private, offshore firms.
The new rates go into effect Feb. 1.
Henry B. Nathan
is a realtor at
United Realty Group Inc.
Please call me for all your needs at
(800) 416-2747 - (954) 296-6741
hbnathan@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment