Fla. Gov. Crist Persuades Cabinet to Block Insurers’ Exit

By | February 1, 2007

  • February 1, 2007 at 7:03 am
    billybond says:
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    Is the state\’s bond rating next?

  • February 1, 2007 at 7:55 am
    amazed says:
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    Well, Hartford is essentially gone.. What do you think the 100\’s of thousands of senior citizens that have their auto policy through AARP will think about that one? This is the stupidest thing that I have ever experienced as an agent. To have the audacity to think that our legislature can dictate how companies make their money. Don\’t get me wrong, my insurance is more than my taxes, I shake my head that my mortgage consists of 60% towards taxes and insurance.
    Think about this scenario. It\’s late at night, dark smoke filled room, cigars and Brandy and the \”boys\” have all gathered for a \”meeting of the minds\”. There sits Hartford, Travelers, State Farm, All State, Nationwide, Safeco. They all have a sip of brandy and a puff on the cigar and pull a number out of a hat. The number tells them when to leave the State very strategiocly, one by one. The \”Boys\” are not stupid, after the last one leaves the State will then be forced to \”beg\” to get them back. Because the Citizen\’s of this State will have had to pick up the pieves via assestments and additional taxes. What a mess!

  • February 1, 2007 at 8:13 am
    DDT says:
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    The other side of the coin for Floridians is that while companies may not be able to cancel policies (even for legitimate reasons), I do not see anything that says they have to accept new business. So if you\’re not happy with the company you are with now…

    Too Bad, you\’re stuck!

  • February 1, 2007 at 8:56 am
    Floridian says:
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    The rule does indicate that a company may cancel for material misrepresentation, fraud, or non-payment.

  • February 1, 2007 at 9:03 am
    TM says:
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    What I would like to know is why are carriers doing property inspections on clients that they have had for twenty years with no claims and finding any minute reason to cancel this policy (debris removal comes down to raking your leaves which interprets to be \”cancel your policy\”. Coverage A increases from lets say $150,000 to $300,000 due to \”a recent inspection\” doubles premium and now they will \”cancel your policy\” if you do not increase to these limits. Where does it end.

  • February 1, 2007 at 9:49 am
    DDT says:
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    Where does it stop… The problem is that the state should have never dabbled with the insurance carriers.

    Let\’s face it, insurance companies are in this game to make money. The more competition, the price conscious the carriers have to be and the lower the premiums.

    When you have the state refuse carriers to get adequate rates to cover the exposure, carriers begin to leave the state. When that happens the state gets concerned and begins to try to further restrict carriers from leaving and dropping their current insured’s. Who now have fewer choices and with fewer choices… higher prices.

    Now those carriers want our and have to find other ways to get out of the state… Thus required coverage increases, dwelling inspections, etc.

    Trust me, this will be a continuing spiral until the state gets out of trying to legislate what the carriers should do. When that happens, carriers will again be able to make money and competition will return. Until then it really doesn’t matter what Crist or anyone else does…

  • February 1, 2007 at 12:07 pm
    TM says:
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    2 Carriers that I write with in Florida have already restricted what we can write as far as new business -one carrier has gone as far as big red letters stating EMERGENCY ORDER. No coastal property to be written and only homes built in 2001 and newer and the other company is restricted to no new business unless it is a home closing and the home is 95 and newer-all others must be reviewed and given underwriting approval! I have also received another email from an auto carrier stating that they are reviewing the new bill and will let us know how this will effect our current ability to write auto insurance!!!!

  • February 1, 2007 at 1:06 am
    JAM says:
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    All the time being wasted trying to make Insurance Companies freeze rates, not cancelling policies and the Gov and uninformed legistlators is laughable.
    The governing body should legistlate against Hurricanes and that would solve the problem.
    The companies will simply pull out and leave no private insurance available in FL. What a joke this whole mess is!!!

  • February 1, 2007 at 1:07 am
    Lee says:
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    Looks to me like the politicians think they know more than anyone else. I suspect when able to do so, most of the companies doing business in Florida will call it quits and the state can insure maybe 80% of the business written with Citizens. What attraction has Florida put out to bring new companies in? I guess the state needs to limit cancellations as they realize they just passed a real bad law and many companies will want no part of the changes.

  • February 1, 2007 at 1:21 am
    DAWN says:
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    Florida already has no attraction to any private insurers, and Citizens is already the largest insurer by a very wide margin.

    Foreclosures are up due to escrow, (My mortgage went up $500 a month due to insurance this year, I\’m going to be struggling to not be in that list) mortgage companies can\’t \’force\’ place, and every insurer already limits if not completely rejects all new business.

    So all this discussion about how he\’s made the situation worse is kind of obsolete. Citizens will end up with the remaining, what, 30% of homes in Fla?

    You can\’t dissuade companies from coming to Florida if NONE OF THEM want to be here in the first place.

    JMHO

  • February 1, 2007 at 1:31 am
    Petrie says:
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    Crist better beware…Companies may not be able to leave for awhile, but they can close for accepting new policies and Citizens will be the only one left. Crist will have to fund it through new taxes. Instead of being known as the Governor who save Florida from the big bad insurers, he will be known as the Governor who reduced the population because he raised taxes so high, the residents couldn\’t afford to live here.
    Crist\’s new logo-Taxes are us

  • February 1, 2007 at 1:35 am
    InsCo says:
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    Everyone is missing a big point here. Insurance companies raise rates when they are not making a profit. And since we\’ve all been around the last couple of years and know what has happened, insurance companies have been paying out big bucks for these disasterous hurricane seasons. It is a political thing to malign insurance companies by saying \”we\’re so tired of seeing rate hike, after rate, hike, etc.\” But the picture is, if they make the companies stay in the state, not let them receive the rate they need to stay afloat, you\’re going to see some insurance companies go belly up. And then where will the constituates in Florida be? Meanwhile, Citizens has done poorly and all the other companies are having to be assessed for their inadequacy, adding more burden. It\’s spirally down, people.

    Point is … you live in a state with the propensity towards large claims (Florida, California, etc.), you are going to have to pay some mighty hefty premiums. Live with it or live in a place where there won\’t be much choice because everyone will pull out.

  • February 1, 2007 at 1:37 am
    Jeff says:
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    So, excluding the cat exposure of wind and flood is writing insurance in FL profitable? I do not live in FL, and have no idea what the average HO insurance premiums are, but it seems like the citizens of FL do not accept what the companies claim is their actuarily sound premium levels in order to write at a profit.

    Everytime I read articles / comments with regard to the FL insurance problem, the more I believe a CAT fund needs to be set up to remove the insurers from the CAT exposure business. I was wondering…if there were moderate to bad hurricane seasons every year, is it even possible to insure homes at a profit?

    I would assume that those of you who have posted here(and please correct me if I\’m wrong) would just have the private insurers charge what they need to be profitable. But what percentage of homeowners would need to priced out of the market before we should look for an alternative solution. Say, for example, to turn a profit in FL, private insurers would have to charge a rate that priced out 40% of the homeowners, is this okay? Do any of you have another suggestion?

    I do agree though, that forcing business decisions on these companies will have them looking for a way out and may in the end really hurt Floridians.

  • February 1, 2007 at 1:41 am
    Wes says:
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    Let\’s face it, insurors are going to insist that property is insured to value. If the insured refuses, then the carrier can say \”Adios\” without breaking Florida\’s silly rule.
    Second, continued failures by Citizens fall on all other Florida policyholders through an assessment of their premium. Eventually, if Florida politicians keep mucking with the market place, there won\’t be any private insurance policies to assess…then guess who pays for Citizen\’s mismanagement? Can you say, T A X E S?

    W

  • February 1, 2007 at 1:51 am
    Tom says:
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    This whole scenario is heavy handed politics which obviously was initiated to appease the citizens and totally ingnore the insurance companies whose financial health is meaningless to the Gov and legislators.

    It would be laughable if wasn\’t so pathetic.

    The knee-jerk reaction by the Gov and legislators to fix a very complicated problem of rising premiums, availability and capacity can only be solved by working with industry leaders, insurers and knowledge professionals.

    You may legislate the insurers for a season but unless the Gov and legislators act responsibly Florida will see a mass carrier exodus then the great Citizens Property & Casualty will truly be the market of last resort. Then what will Floridians do for property insurance?

  • February 1, 2007 at 2:05 am
    TCF says:
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    Can you spell RECALL. I have already heard this being whispered amoung many people. Crist maybe able to fool some of the people right now, come 15 months from now when EVERYONE is paying more for ALL their insurance policies he will not be so popular. He is also attacking the Cities tax bases and is creating more enemies than friends.

  • February 1, 2007 at 2:29 am
    Ralph Balamabama says:
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    I am not from Florida so maybe someone from there can clarify some things for me? From what I understand Florida has billions of dollars in taxes from the rest of us who go there every year on vacations. I think, but again would be curious, what kind of state income and personal property taxes do Florida homeowners pay? I live in middle America where insurance is a lot more affordable but my property tax on my small middle class home is adds around $300 to my monthly mortgage payment and I pay approximately another $250 a month in state income tax. I could be wrong, but I have heard Floridians do not pay either of these taxes or quite a bit less. Maybe somebody could let me know the answer? So if they get an increase in their monthly insurance premiums of say $550 then they are back to where I am here in Middle America where we are not blessed with such a huge influx of cash from tourism. So the way I look at it you Floridians do not pay as much in local taxes as the rest of the country and do not have to because of the huge bucks coming in from tourism. It seems like a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too. They should buck up and pay the higher rates because as someone said earlier, they will pay it to the insurance companies or in the form of higher taxes. I am no expert, but I bet private insurance companies can run more efficiently than a state run insurance company. You should pay, as much in insurance as it costs to insure your home where it is located not expect others out of state to pay for you to live in paradise. It is about 10 degrees where I am. What is it like in FL today?

  • February 1, 2007 at 2:39 am
    Dawn says:
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    I do live in Fla. Outside of CAT exposure, Fl HO is a very lucrative market.

    And you\’re right. Outpricing homeowners is exactly what\’s happening. Yes, that\’s what most of the posters on this topic would LOVE to see. They call it \’free market\’. Let premiums go from $1200 to $7500 (which is an actual figure) and let those people who choose to live in Fla lose their homes as long as the insurance companies remain lucrative and they get to say it\’s a free market. The general consensus on this board is that we all deserve it because we choose to live here. I guess the same goes for Ca (Earthquakes), NC and SC, Ala. and La (hurricanes), Tx, Ok, and all the other midwestern states in Tornado Alley, – oh I forgot Or and Wash all those fires- they deserve it too, I guess.
    And I almost forgot the ice storm in Ok. Guess when those premiums go double digit increase, those people will deserve it, too.
    Ca has an Earthquake fund due to the same issues with insurers not wanting to cover them. That\’s exactly what needs to be done with Hurricanes, IMHO. Ala, La, Fla, NC, and SC are ALL large Hurricane risks. (VA has even taken a few major hits, so I guess they could be part of it)

  • February 1, 2007 at 2:49 am
    Dawn says:
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    Property Taxes and Ins Premiums are the reason the foreclosure rate has jumped 38% in Florida.
    We don\’t have a state income tax, but our property taxes are among the highest in the country. I pay appx $450 a month in property taxes for my home, and this year I will pay appx $600 a month for ins.
    Those have gone up in the double digits in some counties as well. $3600 to $7200 for a middle class home Indian River.
    And sorry, I\’m was born in the US, have a job and only 2 kids, so I don\’t see a penny of the taxes you pay when you come here. Don\’t EVEN get me started on where all that money goes.

  • February 1, 2007 at 2:53 am
    Floridian says:
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    Well, the reason that we do not have a State tax is because of the Florida Lottery.
    And as far as propery taxes go, there are many people that pay around $5000 a year.

    And for those coastal residents that you say have it so well off, well just think about how it would be to pay around $50,000 a year…no, really that is how much people pay every year that live on the coast in million dollar homes, every year. So do you think they could say they ever really own their home?

    Many people here are finding themselves paying the same amount as their mortgage anually as they do in property taxes, flood insurance and homeowners insurance.

    Do you still think we have it so well off???

  • February 1, 2007 at 2:59 am
    Ralph Balamabama says:
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    I sure do. If you can afford to live in a $1million home on the beach I am sure $50,000 in taxes is not a problem. The fact remains it costs what it costs to insure where you live and restricting insurance companies will only cost you more in taxes or premiums. I am from the mid west and I will make sure that my congressmen and senators know that they should vigorously oppose any attempt by Floridians to force the rest of us to subsidize their insurance. If you can not afford to live there than move. We would welcome you to our community.

  • February 1, 2007 at 3:10 am
    Ike says:
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    Finally, a governor with enough backbone to stand up for the policyholders of his state. What happened to the gross profits from last year\’s hurricane season? And the years before that when hurricane activity was almost nil? I don\’t remember any premium rebates of reductions! The profits probably went to their grossly overpaid top executives\’ salaries (or) their jackpot sign-on bonuses (or) their jackpot termination packages (or) their jackpot stock options.

    Go get\’em Gov. They aren\’t going anyywhere. If they all agreed to leave the state, and did, one would sneak back in and try to write all the business of the others. Remember, there\’s no honor among theives!

  • February 1, 2007 at 3:10 am
    Dawn says:
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    If I could afford a $1M home, don\’t ya think I\’d have better things to do then sit here and read this? And, by the way, the $1M homes down here don\’t pay the taxes I do. Thank Bush for that one.

    I work full time, my husband works full time, and now 30% our income goes to ins and taxes. Keep in mind, I moved here 15 years ago because it was cheaper then Washington DC, where I\’m from. I bought a house that I could afford on my income, as I\’m sure you did. 7 years later, I\’m not sure how I\’m not going to lose my home this year.

    When you get an F5 through your neighborhood in the midwest, good luck with your insurance co. Good luck putting your life together with people telling you that you deserved it.

    And don\’t say \’it won\’t happen\’. The hurricanes that have hit in the last 3 years are stronger then ever. The tornadoes are stronger, the earthquakes are not only stronger, but they are now hitting in places where they\’d never been before. It\’s been proven that the natural disasters in the last few years have grown in severity, numbers, and locations.

    And move, great. Who\’s gonna by a house you can\’t insure and has a property tax level higher then most of the country?

    FORECLOSURE? That\’s the magic word down here because you can\’t afford your home and no one will buy it.

  • February 1, 2007 at 3:26 am
    Dani says:
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    I am from the mid west and I will make sure that my congressmen and senators know that they should vigorously oppose any attempt by Floridians to force the rest of us to subsidize their insurance

    You say that until that nice little fault line cracks right up the middle of your back side Mr. \”I\’m from the Mid West\”. Then I bet you\’ll be one of the first to scream for a National Cat Fund. Which is exactly the point. No place in America is immue to SOMETHING.

  • February 1, 2007 at 3:35 am
    Ralph Balamabama says:
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    Dawn,
    I certainly have empathy for you having a home hard to sell but a little forethought when you bought it and moved to a place where hurricanes are common might have helped. It’s like the people in New Orleans not building adequate levees. Forethought is an important thing when making life decisions like where to live, whom to marry, whether to spend state tax dollars on levees and disaster planning.
    Ike,
    Insurance companies have to be profitable some years in order to put money back in their savings from the years they lost so much. You act like they should never be allowed to make a profit even in non-storm years. Sounds like communism to me. You should be very thankful you did not have another bad storm season and that insurance companies made money or what you think is a problem now would only be exponentially worse. I am an insurance agent and most of the companies I sell do not even write in your state. Lets see if I have a product that loses money if I sell it in Florida should I sell there? I think not. You are short sighted and so is your new governor.

  • February 1, 2007 at 3:38 am
    Calig Agent says:
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    We already are subsidizing the hurricane/wind/water issues of the South. I have heard first hand from higher ups at a couple of our carriers that this is going on, even though these carriers are still decently competitive on the West Coast. It will continue till they reduce their exposure in the South or obtain adequate rate relief. The folks in Florida don\’t seem to understand that exposures are well varied on the West Coast and Midwest, even though CAT exposure does exist….just not everywhere as it does in Florida and with the billion dollar consequences that follow. Allstate has already announced a rate hike in Calif that is of the opposite trend here and threaten to pull the plug here if they don\’t get it. Improving their balance sheet and shoring up their reserves is behind this.

  • February 1, 2007 at 3:42 am
    Tom says:
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    I think people are missing the point about the risks of living elsewhere. Yes, there are fires, tornados, earthquakes, etc. all over the place.

    The point is that other states aren\’t trying to artificially suppress rates, force companies to maintain business contrary to good management sense, or run and whine to Washington about how they need a national bailout. Nor are they trying to force the policyholders in other states to pay for them.

    Remember, state insurance rating laws require lines of business to be self-supporting in terms of rates, and generally disallow any provision to subsidize other states. Of course companies can be profitable nationally, but in any given state have negative income. Otherwise, every state insurance commissioner would try to suppress rates to pander to voters and leverage the rest of the country to pay for it. That\’s simply not legal.

    In terms of 2006 profits, be aware that most companies lost every penny of profit they had made in Florida for at least the last ten years (or more) as a result of the 2004-2005 hurricanes. With no profits, where is the money going to come from to pay losses?

    Speaking of which, how soon before the ordinary Floridian figures out that the suppressed Citizens rates mean that any large loss will blow through Citizen\’s assets, thus requiring assessments or taxes for years into the future. Save a few bucks today on your homeowners premium, and put yourself and your children at risk indefinitely. Doesn\’t sound like a very good deal to me.

  • February 1, 2007 at 3:59 am
    media mogul says:
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    Just a humorous note to Chad and others that I continue to enjoy seeing the pendulum swing back from the chaos of unregulated markets to something more tolerable to decent human society. I am enjoying seeing the immature and irrational and doctrinaire reaction against it even more. What did you expect? To screw society at large forever? Well, you got away with it for a few years with the nation blinded by the tragedy of 9-11, and Bush, Cheney and Rove in the way, but we \”can see clearly now\” in Florida at least, especially with Gov Bush out of office. (How \’bout those nationwide thumpin\’ election results to focus the mind?)

    New Republican governor in support, eh? And not a Bush? Maybe there is hope for Republicans yet…only a couple of years now until the next non-Bush president takes office. \”America held hostage!\” as Rush used to say. What mischief they will be working up soon.

    It is not the S word–it is ESCALATION, plain and simple–Vietnam all over again with our VP, who had \”other priorites\” ahead of military service back then, leading the way again. At least Iran and Iraq are largely contiguous and start with the same letter–helps us have some retention of the facts of international affairs and world history. Reminds me of a line in an early Stevie Wonder song, \”Don\’t you worry \’bout a thing.\”

    \”Iran, Iraq…I speak very fluent Spanish.\”

    Stevie can obviously see into the future better than any of us. Just what is our oil doing under their sand anyway?

    Hey–I\’ve got an idea–combine TRIA and National Flood with a national windstorm insurance mechanism. The insurers ought to love it–they can offload some of their more difficult exposures, just like W. wants to offload the Social Security liability (that mean us, guys) for his ultra-rich friends, and the new corporate mantra is the offloading of their historical role of providing insurance for employees through some sort of national plan. Seems it makes them non-competitive in the new international marketplace of tomorrow. I just love how these \”free\” markets do operate.

    FDR was a piker! Hey, and Hillary was right about national health and Obama says he\’s for it too and I am voting for him just to drive every bigoted Republican around the bend. After all, the GOP is now little more than a regional party of the southeast. And hey guys, with the flag of the slave-owning vanquished rebel \”government\” and the gun racks in your increasingly Japanese pickups trucks–where did all your textiles mills–and jobs–go there in the Southeast? Get anything in return? Any new industries? Ask not what your country can do for you, as JFK used to say–but in a better context for the common man. How about high paying high risk jobs for the Veep\’s old company Halliburton? Offloading war liabilities onto the common man for cheap. That Republic Party sure rewarded you for your votes…)

    Have a great weekend, I love you guys–

    Media Mogul

  • February 1, 2007 at 4:10 am
    Ralph Balamabama says:
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    We have had 3 major catastrophes this year in my state. Our losses were much greater in 2006 than your state. And yet companies are fighting to lower rates and get into our state to do business unlike yours. We had catastrophes in 2001 and 2003 too. The one in 2001 at the time was the 10th largest insurance company payout to date. After that storm most people saw 30-45% increases in premium. We still have competition among insurance companies because our state does little to interfere. By the way, I have clients near the most dangerous fault line in the country and their Earthquake rates are awful high. They know the risk and still choose to live there and pay the high premiums. If it happens we will have increases again and we will pay them and not ask for a Federal bailout. A federal bailout system will only allow insurance companies to make more profit by passing the burden on to taxpayers. I thought you tree huggers were against insurance companies making profit. Why do you think Allstate is in favor of this? They are notorious for being the cheapest (I.E. least responsible with their customers money). When they lose money they try not to pay, take huge increases to make up for it, restrict coverages, and try to leave the area causing the pain. If they had a federal bailout system they could charge as little as possible only to then pass it on to the taxpayers.
    It’s kind of like your own saving account. If you dip into it because you have to buy a new refrigerator, lawnmower, etc one year. Then in years later when you do not have things break down you put more in the savings account. Insurance companies work much the same way. If you do not allow them to put money back in good years than they eventually cannot do business in your state. I welcome increase premiums even in good years because I know it will soften the blow in the bad years. Free market is the only thing that will help your state. If insurance companies are overcharging you can bet another company will step in and sell if for less. You just have had bad luck there and are paying for it. It hurts, but government price fixing and oversight is only going to make it worse. Pray for more years of no storms and you will see rates fall dramatically but to your detriment because we all know they will return which will in turn cause steep increases again.

  • February 1, 2007 at 4:17 am
    Rich says:
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    Brilliant. A serious issue about insurance rates, cat losses, regulations, and you try to turn this into a bash-Bush commercial? Is your hatred for Bush, Cheney and Rove now driven you to the point of blaming them for hurricanes?
    Media Mogul? More like Media Moron.
    Grow up

  • February 1, 2007 at 4:21 am
    JAM says:
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    Uninformed liberal moron!! Must be a very frustrated person to respond with such venom in a insurance trade medium!!!

  • February 1, 2007 at 4:25 am
    Rich says:
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    The entire concept of insurance, through many hundreds of years has been simple math equation: The losses of the few are shared by the many.
    Actuarially, proof the system works is in the consistency of rates for fire, lightning, debris removal, VMM, etc.
    The problem in Florida is wind, because it upsets the simple math equation into a new one: The losses of the few are shared by the few.
    The only solution I see is for coastal states to solicit a federal fund (that they contribute the most to), much like that which already exists for Flood coverage.
    Is it perfect? No, but it is certainly better than the alternative of driving insurers out of the state and bankrupting themselves in the process.

  • February 1, 2007 at 5:02 am
    temblorSwing back, sweet pendu says:
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    I see nothing in this mindless tirade that bears any relationship to the problem under discussion. What mind altering substances were taken before this was written?

    It is quite clear Crist does not understand the problem, at all. But, he is a good politician, pandering to the masses who also do not understand, mortgaging the future to massive surcharges and increased taxes. But, if we have another bad season in \’07 or \’08 he\’ll still be in office to reap the benefits of his ignorance. Of course that will cost all us residents dearly.

    I guess we don\’t hear \”mitigation\” from him because it\’s to big a word for him to spell or pronounce.

  • February 1, 2007 at 5:34 am
    Tommy says:
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    I feel your pain, really!
    Assuming no one forced you to buy your home.
    You can\’t have it both ways.
    I just returned from a week in Palm Beach Shores – lovely weather. Houses there way
    overpriced. $500K for an unremarkable 1 story that, frankly, I wouldn\’t live in. You think being 2 blks from the beach had anything to do with that?
    Don\’t know what your house is valued at but here in the \”mid-west\” my taxes are just under yours on a home just over $200k & I live the the \”tornado belt\”.
    Point being, you live where you want to – don\’t whine about the cost.
    By the way, the high temp tomorrow is to be 9 degrees (Sunday 0). You don\’t like FL, move up here and enjoy!

  • February 1, 2007 at 5:46 am
    Ralph Balamabama says:
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    Well put Tommy! Its is colder than cold here where I live in the midwest. My lips, skin, and everything else are chapped and dried out do to the freezing temps. The air burns when it hits me. My car is freezing the whole drive home. By the time it finally warms up I\’m already home. So its kind of like driving home in a freezer. However, my insurance policy is nice and cozy in my heated home. I think all Floridians should come to our state in February and help us shovel snow. In exchange we will help the subsidize their high insurance for their million dollar homes on the beach. Until they make the trip I say kiss my A**

  • February 1, 2007 at 6:25 am
    Outraged! says:
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    He will be a one term Gov. and leave behind billions of assessments to the policyholders in the state. No one will write anymore new business in homeowners and that is why Citizens is already getting 10K policies per month. The policy count will increase since no one can non-renew for the short term. Auto carriers will also assess to stop writting more business in Florida due to the assessment potential. Not sure why the Gov. (the former attorney general) thinks he can backdate an emergency order to stop non renewals from a week ago. He knows that is not within his authority and as a lawyer should act more responsible. Shame on him and his conceit. I say lower Citizens rate even more, hell give it away for free and let everyone pay after the next big one hits. Why collect adequate rates, what a stupid idea!!

  • February 1, 2007 at 6:45 am
    Mark says:
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    Does this mean insurers can\’t cancel for legitimate reasons? For example, what should an insurer do if they find, after a property inspection, that the home has a pool with no fence or cage, a viscious animal, or the property is in disrepair? Does this emergency order take this into effect. This order exacerbates the problem of \”limited\” markets in the state.

  • February 2, 2007 at 7:52 am
    Steve says:
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    He knows that he is setting Floridians up for a fall. A relatively minor hurricane season will quickly bankrupt the state\’s cat fund. On the heels of this he will appeal to the federal government to intervene. The voluntary Florida property insurance market will retreat very, very soon. Amazing how he believes Floridians are entitled to build and own homes without having to bear the true loss costs associated with the risk they represent.

  • February 2, 2007 at 10:34 am
    Dawn says:
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    My home did triple in value the last three years. I could move to a smaller home and end up paying more due to taxes.

    But you\’d like me a whole lot less if I moved up there. I came down here because I can\’t take the cold – so you\’d be paying for my welfare checks and all my medical because I couldn\’t leave my house from Oct to Mar. And since I\’m very prone to Pneumonia, my doctor would make sure the system (aka YOU) paid my bills.

    Wait, that actually does sound better then where I\’m working my *** off to pay what you think I deserve to pay……….

  • February 2, 2007 at 12:11 pm
    Mark says:
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    Gov. Crist has declared a state of emergency in central Florida after deadly tornados have ravaged 4 counties.

    Umm, so, I assume all the people who have been running their mouths about the midwest has tornados is blown out of the water. Looks like Florida has hurricanes, floods, and tornados. And have people forgotten about the sinkhole problem in Florida?

    I believe it\’s the whole package… the politicians running the industry, the non-fault fraud infested auto market, etc this is going to do this industry in for Florida.

  • February 2, 2007 at 12:21 pm
    Mark says:
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    Ike, it\’s easy to say that insurers have made billions over the years and should have it \”stockpiled\” or have squandered it with salaries. Do you have every penny you made over the last 30-40 years? Additionally, home insurance premiums have historically been low over the past years in Florida. In 1997, the insurance on a $200k home w/ pool & cage in Lee County was $380. Insurance companies weren\’t reaping huge profits on policies of this size. If anything, insurance companies were short sighted with their pricing and should have prepared for the 2004/2005 season.

  • February 2, 2007 at 3:16 am
    Jeff says:
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    I was wondering if anyone knows if any other state government / legislature has ever tried anything like this before. The reason I ask is because I was wondering if we have any actual information about what the reaction from the insurers was.

  • February 2, 2007 at 3:27 am
    Rich says:
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    Yeah…others tried it before. Number one state that comes to mind is New Jersey. They tried to dictate to auto insurers and then were shocked when all but one or two carriers pulled out of the state.
    Unfortunately, Florida\’s elected officials don\’t understand what happened there. But, they will. And it\’s the Florida citizens that will be paying for that insane error for years to come.

  • February 2, 2007 at 3:28 am
    JAM says:
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    MA has caused many companies to exit the State due to legislative involvement in rate setting etc.

  • February 2, 2007 at 4:58 am
    Mark says:
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    Are insurance companies entirely to blame for skyrocketing rates. After hurricane Charley the price to replace my pool cage almost doubled. The cost to replace my roof went from approx. $6500 to $10,000. Crist has singled-out an industry with one of the most unique business models of any indusry – price the product first, incur the actual cost later. If insurance companies would have priced adequately, then rates & reserves would have been higher prior to the last few hurricane seasons. However, consumers wouldn\’t have understood. It\’s human nature to think \”it\’s not going to happen to me\”.

  • February 2, 2007 at 5:05 am
    Mark says:
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    Excellent comments. He\’s totally avoided the fact that Citizens is $1.5b in debt and we\’ve had at least 4 insolvent insurance companies since hurricane Charley. He thinks lower rates will solve the problem? We have a highly concentrated population, building costs that are out of control, and huge exposure to natural disasters. He\’s avoided these issues and tried to solve this with the \”stroke of a pen\”. He\’s not good for any Floridian.

  • February 5, 2007 at 10:54 am
    chad balaamaba says:
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    just wondering where I can find a tin hat to match my shoes in case I run into media mogul…gotta stop those evil rays the Bush Admin are loading into the air from getting to my brain stem…

    Crist looks very nearsighted on this matter. He just got elected, and he\’s still scared about re-election? Competition is going to dry up; even if you hold carriers hostage this year, which appears to illegal, there\’s going to be nothing short of the very weak carriers willing to enter the Florida market. The weak carriers will figure, \’what the heck, if we go belly up, they can\’t eat us\’…the strong carriers won\’t risk their capital on a losing situation. Don\’t forget the sinkhold issues in Florida, too. Sounds like Florida needs some rational thinking at the top. Just because the citizens think \’this guy will help us keep rates down\’ doesn\’t equate to a rational viewpoint on keeping the system viable and healthy for your state.

  • February 5, 2007 at 10:59 am
    ross perot says:
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    This insurance thingamajig reminds me of how polarized we are, we gots the pro-ins flood insurers against the pro-winddamage pay me cuz I had insurance folk; it reminds of of the wal-mart vs union, Iraq war vs surrenderers, vegietariens vs carnievors, and even right vs left…even
    reminds me of government; gridlock that is; you got the reds hatin\’ the blues, and the blues hatin\’ the reds; dat\’s why nuttin\’ gets done in Washington; it\’s like the big fish and the little fish; the big fish wants to eat, and the little fish wants to eat, but the big fish wants to eat the little fish, and the little fish doesn\’t want to be eat. See, that\’s like government. What we need is universal flood coverage; put a $500k cap on it, but a 15% deductible; that way you makes flood people take responsibility for some of their loss, but you can provide coverage to the really well off people like me who need extra coverage for their beach property. That, and we should tax gas 50 cents per gallon on top of the current taxes to balance the budget. Thank you for your support.

  • February 5, 2007 at 12:13 pm
    Mary says:
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    TAX our GAS another 50 cents. Maybe you can afford it but i can\’t.

    I feel for everyone in Florida having to pay for the price increase there. However, the state of Florida is very high risk. You can not expect for the insurance company to stay afloat to pay for your claims if they can\’t have a rate changes.

    I live in North Carolina and we are going to have a 5% rate change in our homeowner\’s insurance begining May of 2007. Not because of our claims history but because of the claims activity in the southeastern part of the United States (Florida, Louisianna, Mississippi, etc.)
    Our carriers are being more particular about the type of risk we write with them and one company suspended our writing without much of a heads up.

    Forcing the insurance company from raising rates is not the answer. Stop building houses on the beach. Stop the building industry from raising the rates on building material and labor. Get the experts (not politicians) on the table to figure out how we can be better prepared for a major catastrophic event.

  • February 5, 2007 at 12:42 pm
    Wes says:
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    I\’ll come back in a year and see if your attitude has changed when you can\’t beg, borrow or steal Homeowner\’s insurance because all of the carriers have left the state of Florida.
    What we need is National Homeowners Insurance – kind of like that wonderful program known as Medicare… Yeah, right.

    W

  • February 5, 2007 at 5:20 am
    Ralph Balamabama says:
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    Right on Wes. We could call it part H (for homeowners coverage) and have Medicare pick up the bill. Everyone could have coverage from Medicare for $20 to $35 per month depending on what copay you want. We could have formulary like Part D. Tier 1 could be Replacement Cost, Tier 2 Actual Cash Value, Tier 3 build it you damn self, and Tier 4 labor ready (ie hire some illegals and pay the cash under table for less than minimum wage).

  • February 6, 2007 at 9:26 am
    JUST FOR FUN says:
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    Get a life! After 49 messages … unless I mis-counted … you OBJECTED TO A LIMERICK? It\’s a joke, get it? Laugh, long, laugh often. Trust me, you\’ll live longer! And if you are in this crazy insurance biz, as I am, you need all the laughs you can get! And MOST \’SPECIALLY, if you are an agent in Florida!

    P.S. I bet what ticked you off was the germ of truth: that Florida taxpayers are now on the hook. Double bet: you\’re a member of the \”Democrat\” party. Ha, ha! That\’s a joke, too! If you didn\’t \”get\” that one, you either have no ear for English, didn\’t listen to the State of the Union Address, &/or don\’t support your local NPR station. How\’s that for serious?

  • February 6, 2007 at 9:39 am
    JUST FOR FUN says:
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    There once was a governor named Crist
    Who delivered when consumers were pissed.
    Like turning water to wine,
    Free insurance did he devine.
    Now the taxpayers are slitting their wrists!

  • February 6, 2007 at 10:09 am
    Amazed says:
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    That\’s enough!!!! This is a very serious subject. Our careers depend on the outcome of this. We have allowed the Florida Legislature to pass amendments that are not informened, not viable and mostly not to the best interest of the people that we are supposed to serve. We have a responsibility to look at insurance as a life altering decision. When we start taking our careers in a frivolous tone, so does the public. How can we expect them to respect the advise we give them about \”insuring to value\” \”replacement cost coverage\” \”personal liability\” if we think this should come down to something silly out of our mouths. Listen to your clients, have some empathy, write the Govenor, do something… don\’t make jokes about something so serious. It is not a laughing matter.

    PS Cut the politics, Use your brains and come up with some other alternatives like????

  • February 6, 2007 at 2:24 am
    Tom says:
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    The stupidity and senseless diatribe needs to end. Unless you have something positive to contribute why not keep it to yourself.

    Take a professional approach and don\’t demean yourself or our profession.
    Thank you!

  • February 8, 2007 at 3:45 am
    MLB says:
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    IF you freely choose to live in Florida you should be responsible to pay for YOUR CHOICE. Why should the rest of the country pay for YOUR CHOICE. I Choose to live in the Chicago area and I pay for my high gas bills in the winter.

    This is like the ILLEGAL Aliens things again, everyone has to pay for people who do not take responsiblity for their choices/actions.

    At the rate this country is going we will destroy ourselves, we won\’t need anyone else.

    If you live in a FLOOD zone why should the rest of us pay!!!! If you live on cliff and it drops, why should the rest of us pay!!!!

    GET THE POINT!!!

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    BloggerSam says:
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  • October 28, 2007 at 9:42 am
    Richard N. Keene says:
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    Just got my new Homeowners Policy, and nearly had another cardiac arrest. I would like to demand that the State of Florida investigate the PROFITS, SALARIES OF EXECUTIVES AND COMMISSIONS OF AGENTS to this worthy company!
    Ready to move out of this State of confusion!

  • October 24, 2008 at 4:49 am
    Ralph Balamabama says:
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    If you do not like State Farm’s premium or what their agents, executives, etc make then go with a different company. Cant find one cheaper? Maybe its because of the high risk and $$$$billions insurance companies pay everytime a hurricane hits FL. Want to pay less? Move to Missouri where I live. My homeowners is $700 a year and has all the bells and whistles. I regularly write policies for $400 to $800 a year here. Wonder why that is? Huh could it be the lack of Hurricanes? You want to punish agents, executives, etc that work hard to get where they have in life. They probably did outrageous things like go to college, get degrees, get professional designations, and work hard. Sounds like a redistribution of wealth plan. People like you make me vomit. By the way, I do not work for State Farm. They are competition for me. I do not think it is the goverments job to investigate how much anybody makes nor redistribute it to anyone else. Up yours!

  • April 15, 2009 at 10:36 am
    RICH KEENE says:
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    WHEN NOBAMA, RHYMES WITH Balamabama, TAKES OVER THE FREAKEN INSURANCE COMPANIES YOU WILL FINALLY BE SATISFIED! YOU FREAKEN CRETIN!

  • April 15, 2009 at 1:22 am
    Ralph B says:
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    Rich,
    Apparently this freedom thing and constitution stuff just is not for you or your fellow communist buddies. I recommend and urge you to relocate to a communist country like China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuala where the government has controls and takes everything over. Less freedom does not come from the government taking everything over. Freedom comes from the people. I am sad to know that idiots like you walk among us.



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