Florida homeowners facing increasing property insurance rates, experts say

Florida homeowners are bracing to spend even more money to insure their homes.

Some industry analysts predict the average homeowner will spend 40% more on property insurance next year because of the storm.

Even before Hurricane Ian unleashed its wrath in the Fort Myers region and drenched Central Florida with devastating floods, Florida’s home insurance market was already buckling under the weight of fraudulent roof replacement schemes, reinsurance costs and litigation.

Just this year, six insurance companies — FedNat, Weston Property and Casualty, Southern Fidelity, Lighthouse, Avatar, and St. John’s Insurance — stopped operating in the state, according to the Florida Insurance Guarantee Association, because they couldn’t pay their debt.

The Insurance Information Institute also said 27 other companies were on an industry watch list before the hurricane over concerns about their financial health.

“The fact that so many companies were in this financial position gave us worry at the time,†said Insurance Information Institute spokesman Mark Friedlander. “And now with the expense pressures of claim filings combined with expected high levels of litigation related to Hurricane Ian, this could drive some of these smaller struggling insurers out of business.”

Before the storm, the Institute determined that Florida homeowners were paying, on average, $4,231 to insure their homes compared to the national average of $1,544.

News source wesh news 2 Sheldon Dutes