The prices of Home insurance in the state of Florida has skyrocketed this year due to the few insurance companies currently remaining in the state following Hurricane Ian and amid an increase in claims and lawsuits from homeowners.
In Florida premiums for Insurance policies rose to over $4,200 annually at three times the national average, which affects all prices and thus becomes an extremely serious problem, as cataloged by the Republican state representative Tom Fabricio, as the news portal Univisión 23 explains.
While some insurance companies had left the state after filing for bankruptcy, the passing of Hurricane Ian meant fewer wanted to come to Florida after the weather event.
many companies they are unwilling to underwrite policies In an increasingly risky market due to the number of properties older than 30, the vulnerability of living near the ocean, lack of protection from hurricanes and fraudulent insurance claims, the regulator pointed out Triple I it is a statement.
Furthermore, “Floridans see that Household contents insurance is becoming more expensive and scarce because for years Florida has been a place of too many litigation and too many fraudulent situations about alleged damage to roofs,” said Sean Kevelighan, CEO of Triple-I.
Since 2020, the state has lost around 34 insurance companies. By the end of August, about 14 had stopped offering real estate policies, another 14 had filed for bankruptcy, and 6 had left Florida entirely, Telemundo 51 reported.
Now that few businesses remain in the area, residents have flocked to the state-run public insurer of last resort, citizen property insurance, who kept a record of a million policies in the summer.
Some, like citizen Yasmín Portales, under pressure from the impending expiration of their Citizens policy, have had to buy a new one — for $5,500 — after their insurance company filed for bankruptcy or left Florida.
The governor Ron DeSantis He said last Thursday that reforms need to be implemented and what can be implemented to improve the situation and ensure insurance companies once again see Florida as a safe market.
As reported in Univisión 23’s note, insurance agent Jorge Montealegre advised people to start getting their insurance months before their policies expired.
He also advised before resorting to the few insurers operating in the country – from eight to ten make changes to the house to increase its value: set impact window; Keep an eye on the roof, do a pressure cleaning, “which are very important things that they (insurance companies) look for,” Montealegre said.
Last August, during a special session of the Florida Legislature called to find solutions, Tom Fabricio explained that the advance of insurers was primarily motivated by the Backlog of litigation they faced.
8% of claims against insurers across the country come from Florida, which accounts for more than 78% of all US litigation spending.
When a homeowner’s claim is denied, or when the homeowner and attorneys demand more money, lawsuits against insurance companies increase.
“We have some cases where lawyers are involved over a hundred thousand dollars and the owner earns ten or twenty thousand dollars of a resolution. So this law fuels this litigation problem that we have here in Florida,” Fabricio pointed out.
In order to contain this problem, a regulation of lawyers’ fees would be a possible solution.
A new special session of the Florida Legislature is expected to be called in December to address the issue comprehensively and propose solutions to the crisis.