A.G. Gancarski
Even Florida’s Senior Senator isn’t immune from stratospheric costs of home and car insurance.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio continued to raise concerns in yet another below-the-radar interview this week. During a segment on “A Business Minute with Lily Lopez,” the third-term Republican from South Florida zeroed in on high prices in those sectors, noting that in South Florida “our car insurance is more expensive than anybody else’s, that the property insurance is more expensive than anybody else’s.”
This was part of a larger statement, in which the Senator also bemoaned the high price of homeownership amid an economy “changing very fast.”
But Rubio’s concerns about auto and homeowners’ insurance have become a recurrent theme for those tracking the Senator closely.
During a Fox News interview on “The Faulkner Focus” last week, he again complained about the high cost of living, extending his gripes to the cost to insure an automobile in the Miami metro, which is as high as anywhere in the country.
“I happen to live in what I believe is the first, or after Honolulu, the most expensive community in America with regards to inflation and one of the things that’s driving it now is auto insurance,” Rubio said.
The numbers bear that out for his state and particularly his metropolitan area.
According to Bankrate’s True Cost of Insurance Report, Florida has the second-most expensive “true cost” of auto insurance in the country, trailing only Louisiana.
The average annual premium is just shy of $4,000 and is approaching 6% of people’s wages, a burden up nearly 0.8% year over year in terms of income allocation. Miami residents pay on average $4,213 per year, up nearly $800 annually year over year. It is the second most expensive auto insurance major metropolitan market in the country, according to the analysis.
The Senator had complained back in February about the cost of homeowners insurance spiking for him, meanwhile.
During an interview with WFME in Orlando, Marco Rubio said his homeowners policy rates had “seen probably a 300% increase in the last two years.”
He didn’t blame the cost of homeowners’ coverage on inflation writ large in that interview, however, saying it’s a “state-regulated market” and adding that he didn’t “know anyone who’s not impacted by it.”
11 comments
Don’t
April 19, 2024 at 9:32 am
Put a picture up of Rubio, DeSantis, or Trump and the Howler Monkeys will come.
Silly Wabbit
April 19, 2024 at 10:18 am
Monkeys good.
Dont Say FLA
April 19, 2024 at 12:11 pm
Get your own name. I suggest “Impotent Trollbot”
Richard D
April 19, 2024 at 10:10 am
Rising house values make them more expensive to insure, so, of course, insurance companies are raising the premiums (property taxes can rise for the same reason). House prices are rising faster than incomes because Federal Reserve monetary policy is supporting the economy, and the money created by this policy is making its way into house prices. For most people, the effects of Fed policy are mysterious. Rubio probably will avoid explaining what’s really causing property values, and thus insurance premiums, to rise. As long as the economy needs Fed support, house prices are likely to continue rising, and no end to it is currently foreseen.
Datahound6
April 19, 2024 at 4:03 pm
Housing prices reflect shortage in construction relative to increasing demand. 2023: 800k new households in America. 3.3 million immigrants taking a further 825k homes. New construction 1.42 million homes. The situation is getting worse, not better. Continued shortages will keep pushing prices UP, plus rents [on average, local conditions may vary]. This causes inflation. Inflation keeps interest rates high. Meanwhile, Old Joe allows in a further 1.5 million illegal immigrants each year.
YOUR POST IS SO OBVIOUSLY A RUSSIAN
April 19, 2024 at 6:21 pm
DATAHOUND6, joe biden is not letting people in as you say. he IS dealing with the fact that the gop wouldn’t let the immigration bill go through after trump told johnson to stop it. BTW, i had to close my business because i couldn’t find enough workers. we need more immigrants.
ScienceBLVR
April 19, 2024 at 10:40 am
So I hear snowflake Marco kibitzing and complaining but the solutions, or even ideas of steps to alleviate some of the Florida pain, not so much. Ok, I’m old, and a safe driver but my auto insurance is about $1700 per year for a new car, so way below the average. Looking at property in a large metropolitan midwestern state for a second home, taxes are about the same but the average homeowner insurance is $1200. And the price of homes is half of what the overinflated prices are here. This isn’t just a Florida problem, but it’s much much worse here than many other states. Whatcha been doing about that, Marco?
MH/Duuuval
April 19, 2024 at 10:20 pm
Good as far as it goes, but how much is your flood insurance?
MH/Duuuval
April 21, 2024 at 12:46 pm
After a classic whine like Marco’s, if he were not a MAGA, the MAGAs would tell him to move. In this case, ditto.
Dont Say FLA
April 19, 2024 at 12:16 pm
Little Marco must feel like he’s not getting his fair share from his insurance lobbyists considering how damn much money they’re raking in all across all the G0P run states where rate increases are rubber stamped and green lighted before they even hit the PSC’s desk.
My prediction: Insurance rates won’t change as long as G0P runs the state. As soon as Little Marco feels better about his compensation from the insurance lobby, he’ll go right back to whining about Biden’s age since he got nothing else to whine about regarding the Biden Administration and most certainly cannot compare nor contrast his party’s candidate with the Biden Administration in any positive light.
The only light to shine on the Trump Administration is the black light just like what you see with a black light at a Tampa Motel 6 room right across the street from a Tampa strip club.
Richard D
April 19, 2024 at 5:17 pm
In addition to rising home insurance premiums, based primarily on rising house values and some costly natural disasters (especially in Florida), car insurance premiums are rising, too. The likely reason behind rising car insurance premiums is record high prices for used vehicles, which makes them more expensive to repair or to pay for a total. It’s unclear what’s keeping used car prices high, especially considering that most consumers know they’re likely to need expensive repairs sooner than a new car would. I can tell by looking at crowded used car lots that there’s no shortage that would justify market-based high prices.
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