Anne Geggis
Florida property owners might be paying the country’s highest property insurance rates.
Still, a Florida insurance expert speaking at a Democratic Town Hall said it’s not because insurance companies are making a killing.
Paul Handerhan, president and founder of the Federal Association for Insurance Reform and former president of the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters, said that the Office of Insurance Regulation ensures that insurance companies make no more than a nickel of profit for every dollar they bring in.
“We’ve got to stop the infighting and the finger-pointing,” Handerhan said.
Handerhan was the guest of Democratic Reps. Hillary Cassel of Dania Beach and Anna Eskamani of Orlando at an online Zoom meeting Wednesday that was on Eskamani’s Facebook page.
The retreat of Farmers Insurance from the state led the state’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to accuse the company of playing politics and to blame “wokeness.” Democrats have also laid the deepening crisis at the Republicans’ feet, given their control of the state policies for nearly two decades.
The hour-long discussion touched on numerous factors: lawsuits, catastrophic weather events that seem to be worsening, decreasing competition among companies, and increasing home values.
It’s all been adding up to higher insurance rates for consumers.
Handerhan said programs like My Safe Florida Home, which offers state funding for residents willing to bolster their homes’ resistance to weather, are steps in the right direction.
“The market is getting better, and I think it will continue to get better,” Handerhan said. “It’s not all gloom and doom.”
Eskamani floated the possibility that a Special Session might be in the offing to get more support for consumers. However, she did not entirely agree with Handerhan’s assessment of the situation.
“I think there has been a lot kicking the can down the road that has been GOP responsibility — we’ve been seeing this get worse and worse for years with little action until now when it’s too late,” Eskamani said. “The solution is going to take everyone working together, but the party in control does take responsibility for the lack of proactive action.”
6 comments
Thomas Kaspar
August 3, 2023 at 6:11 am
Well that’s bs because they buy the old ones for pennies and go bankrupt when a hurricane hits . Most inland policies never pay it’s the imbeciles that built on saltwater that get repeatedly destroyed and should be self insured.
Earl Pitts "The Ronald's UnOfficial Campaign Manager" American
August 3, 2023 at 7:17 am
Good mornting America,
The homeowner’s insurance issue in Florida is always a political football to kick around by the opponents of whichever political party is trying to get re-elected or in The Ronald’s case getting elected to POTUS.
Imagine for a minute (if you can) that Nikki Fried is the current Florida Govornor and that Nikki Fried is also running for POTUS. Do you think Republicans would be slinging P00 at Nikki for Florida’s home insurance issues related Hurricane Ian’s Florida distruction?
Think about it America,
EPA
Paul
August 5, 2023 at 11:47 am
Thank you for your enlightening thoughts on how to solve the issue!
Dont Say FLA
August 3, 2023 at 7:43 am
And the IRS make sure everybody pays taxes, right? LOL
And the police make sure black folk stay safe and sound, right? LOL
Double red flag means the water’s really warm, jump right in, right? LOL
Insurance in USA is the perfect example of how Socialism can fail. It sounds great to pool money and give some poor unfortunate souls the help they need when circumstances beyond their control befall them.
Problem is, sooner or later, the greedy ph_kkers in charge of the money pool decide they should keep virtually all the money for themselves, handing pennies out occasionally just for show.
Then regulators say “No can’t do that” which soon becomes “you can’t do that without giving me a piece” and then the regulators are in on it too, and here we all are.
Simon
August 5, 2023 at 11:50 am
Insurance is not socialized. It’s capitalism at its finest. No profit, the insurance companies run out of state. Looks like you too have no useful suggestions for Florida’s insurers.
Lex
August 3, 2023 at 10:57 am
We live in the state most often hit by hurricanes. We have people with million-dollar beachfront properties that are getting their insurance through State reinsurance. Is there any wonder that we have insurance problems? I also agree that the insurance companies are not making a killing or they would be staying in the state not leaving. We need to figure this out before a bad hurricane bankrupts the State. But we cannot combine the risky insurance for millionaires with the ordinary citizen’s insurance and I think that continues to be a fundamental problem.
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