Wildfires in California and hurricanes in Florida produced lots of claims. The state Office of Insurance Regulation said last year that Florida accounted for 79 percent of the nation’s homeowners insurance lawsuits over claims filed while making up only 9 percent of the nation’s homeowners insurance claims. California is the only state that won’t allow insurers to use rising reinsurance costs to justify rate-hike requests. California’s FAIR Plan, short for Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, is backed by all the insurers licensed to operate in the state. If the FAIR Plan loses money, the state is entitled to assess the private insurers.

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Persons: Nancy Watkins, It’s, Rex Frazier, ” Organizations: Howden Tiger, Howden Group Holdings, of Insurance, San, FAIR, Personal Insurance Federation of California Locations: California, Florida, London, Howden, San Francisco