Info On Insurancer Rates (Cape Coral, Gateway: credit, loan, estate)

[FLGUY]

I am trying to find info on insurance rates.

I have found that the State of Florida says that Citizens Property is the company of last resort

In talking with my agant he says that He can insure my home through Citizens for $2600.00 per year -- ( I was paying $720.00 until Nov 1st 2006 )

What happens when and IF the politicos pass a law lowering rates ---

Will we get a refund or adjustment to money already put in escrow if there is an overpayment

I love Florida I am a transplant from Ohio but I am on a limited income as are many of my neighbors and I just can NOT afford the extra $150.00 a month for insurance.

MY HOME WAS BUILT IN 1962 AND IT HAS OF ALL THINGS A 'Bomb / fall out shelter" I have a video if anyone wants to see that -- just click on my 'Home Page' IN my profile

Bill T
Cape Coral FL
33904

http://myvids.2ya.com

[sunrico90]

[quote=FLGUY;137575]I am trying to find info on insurance rates.


What happens when and IF the politicos pass a law lowering rates ---

Will we get a refund or adjustment to money already put in escrow if there is an overpayment


Yes, a refund will be issued if the insurance company request for increase if denied.

State law allows insurance companies to collect higher rates before getting approval from state insurance regulators. Should the increase be rejected, companies must refund the difference

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER DIRECTS CITIZENS TO INSURE FLORIDIANS BEING CHARGED UNAPPROVED RATES


Visit: http://www.floir.com/PressReleases/index.asp

Moderator cut: copy write

[firemed]

The state-run insurance pool is getting ready to move second homes, vacation homes and most investment properties off its books. An insurance bill passed in May requires Citizens Property Insurance to stop offering windstorm coverage to non-homestead properties after March 1, 2007.”

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...s/15832967.htm

[FLGUY]

I live here year round now - Nor a snow bird But this is ridiculous - My home is valuerd @ $186,000 and I only paid $62,000.00 for it in 2000 Before Cape Coral started its boom - And as you are probably aware you must cover the home for what they say it worth.

[alexander59]

My mother was told that her new premium with citizens is 1775.00, so she called around looking for something cheaper, nope and two were higher, so whats going on?
She lives on 607.00 a month, her house is paid for but because she has a home improvement lien she has to have insurance, we do not know how we are going to pay for her insurance and mine that went up more than double from 1300.00 to 2900.00.My house is apprasied at 220.000 and hers at 170.000, I could not sell mine for that so where did they get thier appraisal? My house and hers was built in 1956 and has never had a claim.

[BigJimSlade]

I would love to hear more on this subject too. We are moving into our first home Dec 1st, and our insurance will cost us about $3,100 a year (with citizens). My wife and I definitely aren't poor, so I don't know how most people are going to start new lives in Florida if they have to pay those kinds of prices. I suppose the truth is that the market will make people pay whatever they can bare in accordance with their demands, but I feel people's demands have gotten small (crud zero lot homes) and they can't bare much more.

[SunshineState]

You write: State law allows insurance companies to collect higher rates before getting approval from state insurance regulators. Should the increase be rejected, companies must refund the difference

I have spent many many hours researching this insurance crisis we are facing including where they say if a rate that is not approved will require a refund. If you go to the Office of Insurance Regulations website and search their PDF files you will see that since 1996 there have only been two instances that they were not granted the increase that they requested, this was out of 5,000 filings for rate increases.

In reference to the article you posted. I attended both the Town Hall Meeting that was on Bay News 9 and the Insurance Reform Committee meeting on October 12th. One of the people in the group I went with asked Kevin McCarty’s personal assistant (face to face) which companies that were involved with the take-out program were currently taking out policies and did not yet have approved rates and she couldn’t name one. She told us that currently involved Florida Peninsular and Homewise which are taking out most of the policies now and charging double Citizens rates HAVE approved ratings. So they may have passed a law stating they will take you back into Citizens Insurance if they charge un-approved rates but everyone that is taking out policies HAS approved rates. Sometimes you have to do your homework because they make it sound like they are helping you but they really aren’t.


[quote=sunrico90;137711][quote=FLGUY;137575]I am trying to find info on insurance rates.


What happens when and IF the politicos pass a law lowering rates ---

Will we get a refund or adjustment to money already put in escrow if there is an overpayment


Yes, a refund will be issued if the insurance company request for increase if denied.

State law allows insurance companies to collect higher rates before getting approval from state insurance regulators. Should the increase be rejected, companies must refund the difference

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER DIRECTS CITIZENS TO INSURE FLORIDIANS BEING CHARGED UNAPPROVED RATES


Visit: http://www.floir.com/PressReleases/index.asp

Moderator cut: copy write

[sunrico90]

[quote=SunshineState;138039]You write: State law allows insurance companies to collect higher rates before getting approval from state insurance regulators. Should the increase be rejected, companies must refund the difference

I have spent many many hours researching this insurance crisis we are facing including where they say if a rate that is not approved will require a refund. If you go to the Office of Insurance Regulations website and search their PDF files you will see that since 1996 there have only been two instances that they were not granted the increase that they requested, this was out of 5,000 filings for rate increases.

In reference to the article you posted. I attended both the Town Hall Meeting that was on Bay News 9 and the Insurance Reform Committee meeting on October 12th. One of the people in the group I went with asked Kevin McCarty’s personal assistant (face to face) which companies that were involved with the take-out program were currently taking out policies and did not yet have approved rates and she couldn’t name one. She told us that currently involved Florida Peninsular and Homewise which are taking out most of the policies now and charging double Citizens rates HAVE approved ratings. So they may have passed a law stating they will take you back into Citizens Insurance if they charge un-approved rates but everyone that is taking out policies HAS approved rates. Sometimes you have to do your homework because they make it sound like they are helping you but they really aren’t.


Here is a third denial for 3 companies....

Posted on October 24, 2006

Florida Homeowners Property Insurance Rates Approved, Rejected, Scaled Back & in the Hopper

An October 23 report from the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) of Florida

The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) denied rate increases recently for three homeowners insurance companies: Cincinnati Insurance Companies, Home Pointe Insurance Company, and Nationwide. The companies requested increases of 78.9 percent, 92.4 percent, and 71.5 percent, respectively, for their homeowners policies.

Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the filings failed to justify their level of increase and were deficient in several areas. The OIR did approve Home Pointe's dwelling rate filing request at 29.8 percent affecting 5,178 policyholders statewide.

OIR approved a rate increase for Safeway Property Insurance but not as much as they requested: 86.5 percent vs 103.8 percent. The increase affects 48,196 Safeway policyholders statewide.

OIR also approved a 5.3 percent rate increase for Capital Preferred Insurance; the company originally sought a 16.7 percent increase. The increase affects 30,546 policyholders statewide.

OIR rejected a proposed homeowners' rate increase by First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Co. that would have raised premiums by an average of 63 percent for more than 86,100 policyholders statewide.

Other companies are going through the rate-filing process which includes public hearings for any rates requests for increases more than 15 percent:

* Allstate Floridian Insurance Co. 22.5, homeowners
* Allstate Indemnity Insurance 33.6, homeowners
* American Southern Home 18.6, mobile homes
* Coral Insurance Company 44.5, homeowners
* Federated National Insurance 49.5, homeowners
* Homewise Insurance 75.8, wind-only
* Florida Family Insurance 14.8, homeowners
* Florida Family Insurance 27.7, dwelling fire
* Liberty American Insurance 44.8, homeowners
* Liberty American Insurance 96.2, dwelling fire
* Liberty American Insurance 95.8, condo
* Service Insurance 72.5, homeowners
* Sunshine State 70.7, Everglades Program
* Sunshine State 59.6, Qualsure Preferred Program
* Sunshine State 56.2, Qualsure Assumed Program
* United Property and Casualty 88.5, homeowners
* United Services Automobile Association
USAA Casualty Insurance Company &
USAA General Indemnity Company 40, homeowners
* United Services Automobile Association
USAA Casualty Insurance Company &
USAA General Indemnity Company 7.2, dwelling, fire and allied lines
* Universal Property &Casualty 43, dwelling

Percentages above are statewide average rate increases. Some areas in the state are subject to higher or lower rate changes.

[SunshineState]

Here is the PDF File FROM the Office of Insurance Regulations. .I didn't make this up it is on their site.

Office of Insurance Regulation
Doing Business in Florida’s Property Insurance
Marketplace
8/12/2006
Introduction
This is a challenging time for the Property and Casualty Insurance Market in the
Office of Insurance Regulation
8/12/2006
Information Institute estimates a minimum of $7 billion must be added to Florida’s
insurance market, or roughly $500 million in new capital every year.
Insurance Affordability
As the cost of insurance rises, policyholders are often faced with difficult economic
choices concerning their insurance coverage. Florida laws do not provide for, nor does the
Commissioner of Insurance Regulation have statutory authority for, determining whether
insurance policies are affordable. The Commissioner is vested with the responsibility to
ensure that all rates are fair, adequate and commensurate with the risk, and not unfairly
discriminatory; however, there have been some recent statutory exceptions in this regard.
Reinsurance
Insurers purchase reinsurance to spread the risk of losses. In exchange for a premium,
the reinsurer covers a portion of catastrophe losses. Reasons That Florida IS A Good Place To Do Business
In spite of the problem areas described above, the Office of Insurance Regulation has
made considerable progress with regard to improving Florida’s Property and Casualty
Insurance Market and ensuring that the State of Florida remains a good place to do
business. Some of the reasons that Florida remains a good place to do business include:
�� Rate flexibility;
�� The presence of an insurer of last resort – Citizens;
�� Partnerships to Build Better Homes;
�� Hurricane Mitigation Efforts; and
8/12/2006
Florida has significant access to investment capital that includes 260 banks with $49.8
billion in deposits, 45 savings and loan institutions with $17.9 billion in deposits and 246
credit unions with $22.2 billion in deposits, and is often referred to as the “Gateway to
Latin America”.
Florida is a great place to do business with over 3,000 licensed insurance entities from all
over the world and generates a total of $84 billion in annual premiums.
Rate flexibility
. Florida is also one of the states that allows “use and file.” To improve
speed to market, an insurer may use a rate prior to having it approved by the Office. If the
rate is later determined to be excessive, the company refunds or credits the excessive
portion back to the consumer. In some states, insurers are required to get prior approval
and have no filing options.
In 2006, the Florida Legislature approved another “Speed to Market Initiative,” which
allows insurers to increase rates up to 10% per territory and up to 5% statewide without
requiring a normal rate approval in those areas of the state exhibiting reasonably
competitive conditions.
Decisions made by the Office of Insurance Regulation regarding insurer rate increases
have been favorable. In this regard, since 2004, 69% of all requests for rate increases
have been approved as requested. From 2004 to present, the Commissioner ordered or
issued a letter to have rates increased on eight separate occasions to ensure that rates
were adequate.
Rating disputes typically arise from statistical and economic assumptions made
by different actuaries; however, an insurance company has recourse at any time if it
considers a rating decision to be adverse.
For instance, in 1996, the Florida Legislature created a three-person Rate Arbitration
Panel to provide insurance companies with the ability to challenge decisions made by the
Office of Insurance Regulation, formerly the Department of Insurance, for property and
casualty rate filings. This law provides property and casualty companies with a fast and
fair adjudication process for their rate filings. Since 1996 insurance companies have
challenged rating decisions made by the Office of Insurance Regulation for 12 of 5,000
filings (less than ¼ of one percent) and 10 of these 12 insurance companies were
successful in overturning the rating decisions.The Office of Insurance Regulation understands that rates must contain a profit margin
from expected experience to reflect uncertainty (variability) in the projection of actual
losses.
Actuarial theory indicates that the contingency margin should reflect the variability of the
risk. As in the stock market, a greater risk dictates a greater return on investment. The
lines of insurance with greater risk (property insurance) dictate a greater investment
consideration for capital investments to be available. The Office continues to work with insurers on accurately reflecting
that with a greater uncertainty, there must be consideration for a greater margin in the
rate.