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☆ Senate committee investigating Florida’s state-backed home insurance company as private insurers flee
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The US Senate Budget Committee is launching an investigation into whether Florida’s state-backed home and property insurance company has enough money in the bank to withstand future disasters, as scientists warn warming oceans and sea level rise are making storms more destructive. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation exists as a so-called insurer of last resort - if owners cannot convince a private insurance company to cover their property, Citizens will step in. If that were to happen, the Senate Budget Committee is worried Florida might turn to the federal government looking for a bailout, Whitehouse said. State insurers of last resort were originally intended as a stopgap for consumers, ensuring their coverage wouldn’t be interrupted. Florida isn’t alone; some major private insurers have either pulled out or stopped writing new policies in wildfire-prone California.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, “, Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, ” Whitehouse, Michael Peltier, Whitehouse, ”, Benjamin Keys, ” Keys, ’, Keys, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Republican Gov, Citizens, Democrat, ”, Munich Re, Swiss, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Senate, FAIR, Florida’s Citizens, Budget Locations: After Florida, Rhode Island, Florida, Miami, Tampa, “ Florida, Munich, riskiest, California

The U.S. homeowner’s insurance industry has had three straight years of underwriting losses, according to credit rating agency AM Best. Record numbers of Americans are now insured through state-affiliated “insurers of last resort” like California’s FAIR Plan, or Louisiana or Florida’s Citizens property insurance companies. These programs were designed to insure properties where private insurance companies have refused to insure or the price for private insurance is too expensive. In Florida, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. now has 1.4 million homeowners’ policies in effect, nearly triple in five years. “It used to be homeowner's insurance was an afterthought when you are looking at buying a property.

Persons: you’re, ”, California Sen, Bill Dodd, Jeremy Porter, Fannie Mae, Todd Bevington, “ I’ve, Jen Goodlin, ‘, ’ ”, “ We’ve, ” Dodd, Dodd, Porter, Guy Carpenter, Lara Mowery, Mowery, ” Mowery, That’s, ” Bevington, Adam Beam, Janie Har Organizations: First Street Foundation, Bank of America, Treasury Department, Paradise, FAIR, Citizens Property Insurance Corp, Farm, Allstate, National Flood Insurance, Swiss, Munich Re, Hurricane Locations: California, Florida, Louisiana, Lahaina, Vermont, Maine, New York, U.S, “, Paradise, Northern California, Colorado, Munich, New Orleans, Gulf, Asheland, N.C, Sacramento, Calif, San Francisco

☆ We left Florida because our homeowners insurance ballooned to $12,000. We walked away from everything we knew so our kids could have a future.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

They fled to Wisconsin after their homeowners insurance premium doubled, seeing no end in sight. Natalia: In 2016 my husband and I purchased the home I grew up in in Plantation, Florida, from my parents. After the roof, we got a quote from the statewide insurance, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt was just kind of like you're walking, you're walking, you're walking with your head down, and then when you finally look up, you realize you're lost. John: We haven't paid insurance yet, but all our neighbors tell us that insurance is about $1,200 a year.

Persons: Natalia, John, It's, we're, FPL Organizations: Service, Property Insurance Corporation, Florida Power, Wisconsin Dells, . Wisconsin, Olive Photography Locations: Florida, Wisconsin, Wall, Silicon, Plantation , Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Dell Prairie , Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Miami, That's, Dell, Plantation, South Florida, ., . Wisconsin Dells , Wisconsin, Disney

CEDAR KEY, Fla. — As cleanup begins in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, the storm has served as a stark reminder that Florida's insurance industry remains in flux. But many of those homeowners face uncertainty amid the upheaval that has emerged in Florida's insurance industry in recent years. A thinning insurance market that is beset by more regular hurricanes has caused insurance policy costs to skyrocket. The state's insurance industry is preparing to lose four insurers since last year — Farmers Insurance, Bankers Insurance, Centauri Insurance and Lexington Insurance. Aggravating the problem, 82% of Floridians do not have flood insurance, which is typically operated by the National Flood Insurance Program, a federal program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Persons: Idalia, Chris Draghi, That's, Gregory Buck, Buck, Aimee Firestine, Firestine, Amy Bach, United, Bach, Mark Friedlander, Friedlander, Gabe Gutierrez, Phil McCausland, Melissa Chan Organizations: Insurance Information Institute, U.S, — Farmers Insurance, Bankers Insurance, Centauri Insurance, Lexington Insurance . Farmers Insurance, National, Experts Insurance, Homeowners, Insurance, Property Insurance Corp, National Flood Insurance, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Congress, First Street Foundation, FEMA, Cedar Key Locations: Fla, Florida's Big Bend, Florida, Georgia, Florida , Georgia, South Carolina, Cedar, America, Taylor County, Bend, New York City

A vehicle drives on a flooded road after the arrival of Hurricane Idalia, in Cedar Key, Florida, U.S., August 30, 2023. Hurricane Idalia plowed into Florida's Gulf Coast with fierce winds, torrential rains and pounding surf before weakening but turning its fury on southeastern Georgia, where floodwaters trapped some residents in their homes. At about $10 billion, Idalia would cost insurers less than 10 of the costliest hurricanes to hit the United States. Higher reinsurance rates can affect the premiums that insurers charge their customers. FLORIDA PAINFlorida has a large number of very small, thinly capitalized insurers, insurance experts have said.

Persons: Hurricane Idalia, Julio Cesar Chavez, Thomas Hayes, Gallagher Re, Michael Peltier, Berkshire Hathaway, Ajit Jain, Noor Zainab Hussain, Manya, Chibuike Oguh, Jon Stempel, Devika Syamnath, Megan Davies, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, Hurricane, UBS, Global, Great, Great Hill Capital, Farmers Insurance, Bankers Insurance, Lexington Insurance, AIG, Farmers, Florida Office, Insurance, Bankers, Property Insurance Corp, Property Insurance, Berkshire, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: Cedar Key , Florida, U.S, Florida, Coast, Georgia, United States, Ukraine, California, Great Hill, New York, FLORIDA, USA, Lexington, Berkshire, Bengaluru, Chibuike

☆ 'We're in a perfect storm.' Insurers flee parts of America amid the climate crisis and rising costs to rebuild.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some insurers have stopped selling new policies in states like California and Florida. "We're seeing escalating catastrophe risk, a historic rise in inflation, and the cost to recover and rebuild homes is increasing." Still, Friedlander doesn't see Florida's insurance market improving any time soon. Beyond the rising risk of disaster, property insurers are also dealing with construction costs that are outpacing inflation, according to an analysis by the Insurance Information Institute. Insurers saw a 55% increase in rebuilding and replacement costs between 2019 and 2022.

Persons: Carole Walker, Walker, Mark Friedlander, Friedlander, Ian, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Service, Rocky Mountain Insurance Association, State Farm, Allstate, Colorado Division of Insurance, FAIR, Property Insurance Corporation, Insurance, Research, Institute, Contractors Locations: California, Florida . Colorado, Gulf Coast, California , Colorado , Florida , Louisiana, Texas, Colorado , New Mexico , Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, California , Louisiana, Florida

☆ Florida’s homeowner insurance rates are four times the national average. That’s not getting better anytime soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But no matter how many storms hit Florida this year, the state’s residents are already struggling as they try to get homeowners’ insurance. But in Florida, State Farm has about 7% of the market, according to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade group. Just more than half of insurers based in Florida are on the state insurance regulator’s watch list due to their financial health. Homeowners in the state pay private insurers about $6,000 a year, compared to a national average of $1,700. But wind damage to homes and roofs are covered under homeowners’ insurance policies.

Persons: ”, Mark Friedlander, hasn’t, Friedlander, It’s, Hurricane Ian, Harvey, “ We’ve, shortchanging policyholders, Stephen Cain, “, Matthew Carletti, “ They’ve, ” Carletti, There’s Organizations: New, New York CNN — Hurricane, State, Insurance Information Institute, Homeowners, Atlantic, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Hurricane, NOAA, National Flood Insurance, Insurance, Property Insurance Corp, Citizens Property Insurance Corp, Citizens, Dade, JMP Securities Locations: New York, Florida, South Florida, Miami, Broward, Monroe County, South, Atlantic Coast

Tens of thousands of people are scrambling for homeowners insurance in Louisiana at the peak of hurricane season after recent storms drove their carriers out of business. Massive claims from those storms drove large national insurance companies to scale back their coverage and remaining companies to jack up rates. The strategy seemed to work: Rates eventually stabilized, although Louisiana remained one of the most expensive states for homeowners insurance. That pushed the small insurance companies to their financial limits and squeezed reinsurers, who raised their rates. The state insurer’s rolls, which totaled 34,500 in August 2020, ballooned to about 110,000 last week.

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