Florida's Denial of State Farm 47% Rate Hike Again Upheld

July 21, 2009

A court has upheld Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty's denial of a 47.1 percent home insurance rate hike requested last July by State Farm Florida.

According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), the First District Court of Appeal (DCA), without issuing an opinion, affirmed McCarty's denial, which the state's Division of Administrative Hearings also upheld last December.

McCarty welcomed the court ruling.

"State Farm knew, or should have known, that the filing it made was contrary to the Legislature's intent and could not be approved," McCarty said in a statement. "State Farm's actions suggest that it intended to use the denial of the filing as a pretext for threatening to withdraw from the Florida property insurance market."

State Farm Florida has cited the rate denial as part of the reason it decided to withdaw from the state's property insurance market. It indicated when it filed for the 47.1 percent increase that it really needed a 67 percent hike.

OIR and State Farm have been trying to work out terms of the insurer's withdrawal. However, this dispute also seems to be headed for the administrative law court, which has reserved Oct. 12 as a first day to hear the withdrawal plan case.

State Farm has 15 days to appeal the new court ruling.