ORLANDO, Florida – Florida’s insurance commissioner says property insurance rates will eventually come down – but he doesn’t know when.
Channel 9 spoke with Michael Yaworksy as homeowners in our area and across the state continue to struggle to find and afford property insurance. According to Fitch Ratings, Florida has the highest homeowners insurance premiums in the country.
Yaworsky says Florida will see a drop in insurance costs once there’s a decrease in litigation.
Speaking at the Florida Chamber’s Future of Florida panel on Tuesday, the commissioner said the problems the state is facing now are in response to an explosion of litigation after Hurricane Irma in 2017.
As a result, lawmakers passed changes last session to protect property insurers from costly lawsuits, including reducing the fees attorneys can receive and the time a homeowner has to file a claim from three years to one year. The state found that in 2019, Florida accounted for just 8 per cent of the nation’s homeowner claims, but more than 76 per cent of the lawsuits.
According to recent reports, there’s little evidence that the “excessive” lawsuits have driven up rates and driven insurance companies out of Florida.
“Litigation was absolutely an effect of the increase in the cost of insurance in the state. There’s a lot of data points you can look at that support that conclusion,” Yaworksy told Channel 9.
Yaworsky said his office is seeing improvements in the market, such as the state-backed insurer, Citizens, ceding policies to private insurers, State Farm committing to expand in the state, and at least five new insurance companies moving into Florida.
He said they’re still working to attract more. “We have to convince them that the rules are fair and that insurance companies are not subject to the whims of third parties trying to get every last dime they can,” Yaworksy said.
Yaworsky said he doesn’t expect lawmakers to introduce any major legislation in the upcoming session, but he would like to see legislation on greater transparency from insurers.
“When consumers see their bill, I think they should be able to understand why that change has taken place, what their insurance money is actually paying for, where that premium money is actually paying for,” Yaworsky said, adding that upwards of 60 to 80% of what your premium is going to pay claims.
