More than 40 percent of “likely” Florida voters polled in a recent survey describe the current property insurance market as a crisis, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.
Neil Newhouse, of Public Opinion Strategies, conducted the survey for PCI in January and revealed the findings this week.
The insurer group said the poll of 800 likely voters – not necessarily property owners – demonstrated the need for continued dialogue between public policymakers, consumers, and insurers that focuses on “meaningful long-term solutions” to Florida’s property insurance problem.
According to Newhouse, the polled voters opined at a margin of 75 percent to 15 percent that recent Florida legislation did not solve the state’s insurance market problems. Voters are looking for more of a long term solution rather than a quick-fix or a band-aid, according to Newhouse.
PCI CEO and President David A. Sampson hosted a media call Wednesday, saying his organization is committed to working closely with all relevant stakeholders. Sampson said there can be no long term solution without robust private insurance industry involvement.
Risk-based pricing is a very important fundamental factor, Sampson said. At a margin of 59 to 29, voters agree, he added.
“There has to be a correlation between risk and premium,” Sampson said.
According to the Public Opinion Strategies poll results, a majority of Floridians, including those who live in high risk coastal areas, believe that property insurance rates should be assessed based on risk. Specifically, homeowners who live in coastal areas with greater exposure to hurricane damage should pay more for their policies than those who live in inland counties, Newhouse said.
Property development, population growth, and rising real estate prices in areas of Florida prone to natural disasters exacerbate the potential for increasingly larger human and economic losses as a result of such disasters, Sampson said.
With more than $2 trillion of coastal property exposed to natural disasters, Florida will require unique solutions, including incentives to make buildings stronger and reduce losses from future hurricanes, public/private partnerships to fund catastrophic losses, and fiscally sound market-driven approaches to enhance competition and consumer choice, according to PCI.
Sampson said the motivation of the POS survey was to know what citizens and policyholders are thinking in order to make “good data-driven decisions.”
Source: Property Casualty Insurers Association of America
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