Homeowners insurance is one of the biggest expenses residents are faced with here in Southwest Florida. Because of how important an issue this is, we want to keep you up to date on what’s going on around the state, that might have you paying more, so it doesn’t take you by surprise.
Our friends at State Insurance USA want to forewarn SWFL homeowners that premiums are on the rise. Most insurance carriers (the companies that provide your insurance coverage) cannot raise their rates without permission from the Department of Insurance Regulation in Tallahassee.
We’re including an article, provided by State Insurance USA, written by Louis Bolden, Investigative Reporter with News Team 6 in Orlando HERE for our readers to take a look at.
As Bolden explains “Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation approved nearly 100 rate increases involving dozens of insurers. Many of the rate hikes are in the double digits. The challenges are largely due to increased litigation, higher catastrophe claim losses as a result of multiple hurricanes over the past several years and rising reinsurance costs.”
State Insurance USA owner Blake Chapman says, “This disturbance in the market is troubling for all of us, and will affect most homeowners in SWFL. Not only are we seeing rate increases, but we are also seeing carriers ‘non-renewing’ homes in certain zip codes. The carriers are no longer interested in providing coverage, because it has been determined their risk exposure is too high. For example, as many carriers chose to do in the California wild fire areas. Our team is tirelessly re-evaluating our clients’ policies to see if there is anything we can do to help in any way, while still maintaining their proper coverage’s in case of a catastrophe.”