It is no secret that the Florida Citizens Property Insurance group is under financial stress. The state-run insurance company has offered affordable insurance policies to Floridians for decades. This affordability has attracted thousands of consumers, making Citizens the largest insurer in the state, but it has also come at a cost. The insurer now has more policies than it can handle efficiently and is not generating enough revenue to continuing operating viably. State legislators have been working on a way to trim the number of policies covered by the company.…
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Insurance companies now face massive losses due to sinkholes in Florida
Sinkholes that are destroying Florida houses are now costing insurance companies in that state hundreds of thousands of dollars as claims begin rolling in. In fact, in three claims alone linked to sinkholes that cracked floors and broke water pipes, insurers had to pay out over $500,000. Among those three houses in question, none of the homeowners used the money to try to repair their homes. Instead, they are among the hundreds living in Florida’s “sinkhole alley” – which consists of the counties of Hillsborough, Hernando, Pasco, and Pinellas –…
Read MoreFlorida legislators feeling pressure to solve the fraud plaguing the state’s insurance industry
Florida Governor Rick Scott is pressuring lawmakers to make changes to some of the state’s auto and property insurance laws. The Governor claims that these laws are each costing consumers millions of dollars. Legislators have been trying to find a resolution for the issue for over a decade but have so far been unable to make any headway. Governor Scott is now pushing for a solution to be found quickly to prevent further financial stresses falling upon consumers. State law requires Floridian drivers to purchase personal injury protection. The issue…
Read MoreCitizens board of governors submits new legislative agenda to Florida lawmakers
The governing board of Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has agreed on a new legislative agenda that could save the state-run insurance program more than $1.5 billion in insured losses. The board met with state legislators this week in Orlando to discuss the agenda, particularly what legislators can do to make the insurance program more efficient. The board expressed the importance of making cuts to the types of properties the program can insure and has begun pressuring lawmakers to hasten the rate at which premiums can rise. Earlier this year,…
Read MoreFlorida legislators consider allowing surplus insurers to participate in Citizens Property Insurance Corp
In an effort to make Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. more sustainable in the future, lawmakers are now considering opening up the state-run insurance program to surplus carriers. Legislators believe that by allowing surplus insurers to participate, the program will go through a depopulation period as consumers take advantage of the wider variety in policies they have access to. Currently, the state-run program covers more than 1.5 million policyholders. With the program being so large, Governor Rick Scott believes that the only two solutions for sustainability lie in depopulating or…
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