The reforms included in the Biggert-Waters Act of 2012 were directed at making the National Flood Insurance Program more financially secure. In Florida, the arguments about fiscal responsibility and actuarially sound rate structures were merely an extension of the ongoing debate over the solvency of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. — until homeowners here started to open their mail.
Florida consumers and businesses are rallying to convince lawmakers to tackle one of the many proposals dropped from the insurance reform bill during the last legislative session. The Stronger Safer Florida Coalition is asking that the state no longer subsidize insurance for property owners who live outside of Florida.
Fighting with insurance companies over whether or not they will cover a claim can be one of the most frustrating and agonizing aspect of working in the medical field. Too often, clinics and physicians spend so much time trying to get an insurance company to cover the costs of certain procedures that they lose time working with the patients who need them.
Private insurance companies will take as many as 400,000 policyholders off the books of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. by the end of 2013, if all goes as the insurance company hopes. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved the plan recently as part of the state’s ongoing effort to “depopulate” Citizens by moving homeowners insurance policies from the state-backed carrier to the private market.
Citizens Property Insurance Corp. recently announced its proposed rate increases for 2014. Homeowners covered by Florida’s state-backed insurer can expect an average 6.6 percent increase, but homeowners purchasing sinkhole coverage will not fare as well: The company is asking for a steep 24.8 percent hike (statewide average) over current rates.
