Too high? Too low? Debate on homeowner insurance rates might devolve into a shouting match when state lawmakers convene Tuesday for the 2009 session of the Legislature.
A gaping canyon seems to divide opinions on the topic. No middle ground seems to exist, especially regarding Citizens Property Insurance, the state-backed insurer of last resort for many Pasco residents.
Carolyn Hersh, the owner of the Hersh insurance agency in Hudson, plans to join about 15 agents from Pasco and Hernando counties on a lobbying trip to Tallahassee March 9 and 10.
About 300 agents statewide could descend on the state capital to visit lawmakers.
Hersh was reading news items Wednesday reporting that more insurers might follow the lead of State Farm Florida and quit writing property insurance policies in the state.
State Farm Florida announced it would withdraw from the state's property insurance market after state regulators denied the company a rate hike averaging 47 percent.
Insurance executives at a Florida Chamber of Commerce summit in Orlando this week argued they could lose their shirts unless the state loosens regulations on homeowner insurance rates and fully finances Florida's Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.
Other commentators in recent months have described Citizens as a coastal welfare agency because of the two-year freeze on its rates the Legislature ordered.
This has kept premiums artificially low, in the view of many insurance executives.
Yet a proposal to extend the Citizens rate freeze for a third year looks like it could well sail through the Legislature.
The chances of the Citizens rate freeze extension bill passing "are pretty encouraging," Greg Giordano, chief legislative assistant to state Sen. Mike Fasano, said Wednesday, Fasano, R-New Port Richey, is the architect of the Senate version of the bill.
The legislation faces relatively few hurdles in three committees, Giordano said.
"His belief is, especially right now, when people are financially strapped, the last thing we need to do is increase their rates," Giordano said of Fasano's attitude on insurance premiums.
Some lawmakers are questioning the "huge sums" State Farm Florida paid for the reinsurance it purchased from the State Farm parent company, Giordano mentioned.
State Farm Florida executives insist the company would become insolvent by 2011 without a rate increase.
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation officials, however, have said they review companies for solvency implications before ruling on a rate increase request.
After State Farm announced its exit from the Florida property insurance, Fasano sponsored another bill to outlaw "cherry picking" by insurers. State Farm wants to continue selling other lines of insurance, such as auto and life, after leave the property market.
If Fasano's bill passes, State Farm could be barred from doing any business at all in Florida.
Another proposal would place a 2 percent cap per year on the number of cancellations of homeowner insurance policies.
In the meantime, Fasano plans to float a "trial balloon" to create a separate, windstorm insurance pool in the state, Giordano said.
Regional or national catastrophe funds have their proponents, including Pasco County Commission Chairman Jack Mariano.
Congress, however, would have to pass legislation creating a catastrophe fund.
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