Only One Policyholder Turned Out For Allstate Floridian Public Hearing

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reserved a high school auditorium for five hours so that homeowners could voice their opinion on Allstate Floridian Insurance Company’s request to increase rates by 30 percent for 600,000 Florida customers—but only one policyholder showed up.

Four people attended the brief meeting, an Allstate Floridian spokesperson, an OIR representative, a state insurance consumer advocate and the homeowner. The homeowner spoke up to complain that Allstate Floridian had not resolved a billing glitch, unrelated to the rate increase.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, with no additional audience, the meeting adjourned for half an hour, started again, and again disassembled every hour thereafter until 6 p.m. – or until someone came in to talk and ask a question. That never happened.

“I would have liked to have had a larger turnout,” Lee Roddenberry, with the OIR said, adding that these types of meetings can draw up to 1,000 people.

A miscommunication with the school caused an address error in the public notice for the event, but people at the wrong address were pointed to the correct one, said Christopher Duer, an attorney with the insurance regulation office.

George Grawe, a lawyer for Allstate Floridian, told the Democrat the low turnout might demonstrate that the public understands Allstate Floridian’s troubles. He said the rate increases were necessary to keep the company afloat in a state where the home-insurance business is “extremely unprofitable.”

“It is simply a matter of survival,” Grawe said.

The only opposition at Friday’s meeting came from Steve Burgess, Florida’s insurance consumer advocate, who said that Allstate hadn’t adequately explained its entire request in the filing and could be overestimating its liability.

“Allstate should be a responsible corporate citizen and wait until the OIR has a chance to make a decision,” Burgess said.

Also Friday, the state’s chief financial officer said Allstate Floridian’s request for higher rates is unjustified.

Tom Gallagher said Florida-only companies are trying to justify higher rates based on losses in other states.

“They need to reconsider,” Gallagher said. “Their request for a rate increase is unjustified.”

Gallagher, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, said Allstate customers could apply pressure to the insurer by participating in the public hearings. Another one is set for Davie on Monday.

Topics Florida