As seen in the News-Press:
Florida lawmakers are giving attention to the insurance industry’s call for raising rates without state approval.
The stumbling block is how to sell something sure to be unpopular with voters in an election year.[...] Alexander, a senior member of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, warned Florida needs to shift back the risk of hurricanes to private companies, or the charges needed to bail out state-run insurance “could be a couple thousand dollars per every man, woman and child.”
But even supporters admit proposals to deregulate rates are a hard sell.[...]
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty proposes allowing companies the unregulated ability to raise rates 5 percent each year, reviewed retroactively every three years.
Insurers favor a proposal by House insurance leaders to allow annual average increases of 10 percent, capped at 25 percent in any one section of the state.
Apparently there are also proposals to further deregulate rates on million-dollar properties and second homes, and to require some properties to be denied coverage in both the admitted and surplus lines markets before qualifying for entry into Citizens.
Generally, I think deregulation is a good idea. But this being an election year…I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see some “interesting” things develop in Florida in the next few weeks.