Florida residents are outraged by the homeowner insurance costs. We’re seeing rate increases of up to 46 percent PLUS! An 88-year-old stated his increased from $1,640 to $2,473. It just doesn’t seem reasonable to see so much increase all at once! I’ve lived in Florida over 40 years and never experienced anything like this. Did I expect it? of course, however this certainly opens our eyes to reality. It’s important to reevaluate the value for your home, replacement costs and I urge you to review each line item with your insurance carrier. Also keep in mind, insurance carriers do not allow changes if a tropical storm or hurricane is within 500 miles of your location.

Floridians have experienced rate increases and challenges for many years. Insurance fraud for replacement roofs, Flooding, and Hurricanes are huge issues resulting for much of this increase. Many Insurance carriers have fled Florida due to these elements.

Tallahassee – Friday June 24, 2022: The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) had established the 2022 personal property and commercial property insurance rates for the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens). Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) was established in 2002 by the Florida Legislature as a not-for-profit insurer of last resort. It was created to provide both wind-storm coverage and general property insurance for home-owners who could not obtain insurance elsewhere. Headquartered in Tallahassee, Citizens quickly became the largest insurer in the state with Citizens Insurance.

OIR “Office of Insurance Regulations,” held a virtual public rate hearing to receive public comment on March 31 this year. At the hearing, Citizens provided testimony in support of its rate recommendations and received comments from members of the public on the effects of the rate filings. Public comments were accepted for consideration on rate filings until April 14.

Following a review of the complete record, OIR established rates for Citizens’ Coastal Account (CA), Commercial Lines Account (CLA), and Personal Lines Account (PLA). The effective date for new and renewal rates is September 1, 2022.

SB-2D was passed by lawmakers following a special legislative session. According to the statute, “insurers that participate in the Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders or “RAP” program this year “must cut their rates to reflect the cost savings gained by participating in the program.”

Reinsurance is essentially insurance for insurance firms, and the cost, like everything else, has risen, according to insurers.

The legislation’s premise is that if insurers receive reinsurance from the state that they do not have to pay for, they will pass those savings on to customers. According to the statute, insurers were obligated to file the rate decreases “no later than June 30.”

Unless we get some help from the government. It’s unlikely that things will improve with any insurance carrier. It’s my understanding, 69 insurance companies applied for rate reductions with the Office of Insurance Regulation. Many insurance firms and underwriters are suggesting rate reductions ranging from 1% to 6%. With this gap, the average percentage experienced will most likely be 1-2 percent. The Federal Association of Insurance Reform claims. These will not likely affect your latest insurance renewal and see your rates going down.

For example, the Collins’ company has not filed a rate reduction for this year, but their latest increase in premiums was 46%, and his insurer requested a 48% increase from the Office of Insurance Regulation for next year — so reducing 1-2% wouldn’t really move the needle.

“If the goal was to reduce rates for consumers, certainly that’s not materializing,” Per Paul Handerhan, President of the Federal Association for Insurance Reform.

Meantime, if you would like to check to see if your insurer has filed a rate reduction, CLICK and follow these steps:

Republicans, who wrote and supported the legislation, said people should start seeing a decrease in their property insurance premiums in 12-18 months. I’m guessing it takes that long for these measures to take affect and impact the American public, if at all.

1. Click the “Advanced Search” tab at the top of the page.
2. Select “Property & Casualty”
3. In the Keywords box enter “SB 2D: RAP Filing” and hit search.
4. Companies will appear under the results tab.
5. Find your company then click the arrow on the far left of the company’s name.
6. Next click, the documents symbol under “Filing Actions.”
7. Request the Explanatory Memorandum or the Actuarial memorandum. You will have to enter your email address and prove that you are not a robot by answering a numerical question, then the document will be emailed to you.