[sunrico90]

In an attempt to build support for abolishing parts of a state insurance law crafted in January, insurance industry officials on Tuesday presented a sobering financial study that forecasts rising consumer costs for many Floridians and big taxpayer risks in the event of another bad storm season. Those immediate savings, the report concludes, will be much tamer for residents of non-coastal and northern Florida counties, and the cuts will be significantly less than what state regulators estimated -- along the lines of a 12 percent statewide average cut versus reductions of 24 percent average statewide that had been estimated by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

The report, though, predicts a drop of $1,096 this year for an average homeowner in Miami-Dade County if no hurricanes hit. By comparison, it says a homeowner in Orange County, under the same no-storm scenario, would see premiums drop an average of $47 a year. The savings would be just $28 a year for someone living in Tallahassee.

[sunrico90]

Floridians could save big on insurance if state fund backed by national pool
Florida consumers would save $4.1 billion on property insurance premiums each year - or $539 per household - if the state's disaster insurance fund was backed up by a similar national pool, a group of actuarial consultants estimated Monday.

The report brought a dollars-and-cents argument to a movement in Congress to create a national catastrophe fund. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, has proposed a bill, and South Florida Democrats Tim Mahoney and Ron Klein are drafting a version they hope will draw support from both parties.