Florida insurance rates News

Commentary: It’s Time to Reform the Florida Cat Fund, Give Consumers Rate Relief

Floridians currently pay the highest homeowner’s insurance rates in the nation, and no one should be surprised by this. Florida is a long relatively narrow large peninsula jutting out into bodies of warm water prone to tropical storms and hurricanes. …

Report Shows Florida AOB Abuse Worsening as Lawmakers Consider Reforms

The 2018 Florida Legislative Session is underway, and lawmakers have wasted no time taking up legislation to address the assignment of benefits crisis plaguing the state. While they debate which reform option to back, stakeholders say the Florida Legislature must …

Florida Regulators Set Date for Citizens Public Rate Hearing

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) announced it will conduct a rate hearing on Aug. 31, 2017 to receive public comment on Citizens’ proposed rate changes for its business in the Coastal Account (CA), Commercial Lines Account, and Personal …

Florida Insurers Place All Options on Table to Address AOB Abuse

Florida’s home insurers hope the public doesn’t blame them as they implement rate increases, initiate coverage changes and nonrenew policies. They say they have no choice after the Florida Legislature for the fifth year in a row failed to address …

Florida’s Citizens Approves Policy Changes, 5.3% Statewide Rate Increase for 2018

Homeowners in South Florida, as well as in many other parts of the state, should expect additional rate increases next year from the state-run insurer of last resort. Citizens Board of Governors approved recommended rates and policy changes for 2018 …

Florida Lawmakers Once Again Fail to Pass AOB Claims Reform

Florida lawmakers have once again let slip an opportunity to address insurance claims abuse, as legislation failed to make it through the Senate before the 2017 legislative session ended Friday. This is the fifth consecutive year that a bill on …

Florida House Advances Bill Targeting Claims Abuse, But Senate Battle Looms

A bill aimed at decreasing insurance claims abuse in Florida has made it through the Florida House, and the industry’s hope for assignment of benefits reform now officially rests with the state Senate. The Florida House of Representatives advanced House …

Citizens Posts Net Loss of $27M for 2016; Says Water Losses, AOB Abuse to Blame

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will post a net loss for 2016, its first loss in more than a decade, as water loss claims, assignment of benefit (AOB) abuse and litigation costs increasingly impact the company’s bottom line, according to a …

Florida’s AOB Abuse by the Numbers: ‘Alarming Trend’ Reaches Crisis Point

Assignment of benefits abuse has escalated over the last five years to the point where it is now a serious disruption to Florida’s insurance market. The abuse, which is especially rampant in South Florida, stems from unscrupulous contractors and attorneys …

Top Florida Stories of 2016: The AOB ‘Insurance Crisis’

Assignment of benefits abuse has become such a well-known problem in the state of Florida this year that it now just goes by the nickname “AOB.” The issue with AOB comes from when a policyholder suffers a loss, such as …