Florida Home Insurance: Bill to increase rates progresses

A measure that would increase Floridians' homeowner insurance premiums, while reducing the state's financial risk if a major hurricane struck, cleared its first legislative hurdle Friday.

The House insurance committee approved the bill, which, among other things, would:

• Increase Citizens Property Insurance Corp. rates by a statewide average of 10 percent, or by up to 20 percent for individual policyholders.
  

• Increase rates for the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which provides cheap backup coverage, and extend and gradually phase out a $12 billion portion of it.
  

• Prohibit state insurance regulators from denying rate increases they think are excessive for insurers that want an annual average rate increase of up to 15 percent for certain regions.

• Prohibit regulators from denying rate increases because they think advertising costs or agent commissions are too high.

The bill, and a Senate version that is to be discussed Monday, would reverse sweeping property insurance laws passed in 2007 and 2008.

Those laws in part expanded state insurance entities such as Citizens and the catastrophe fund. Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, said the laws were "the largest expansion of gambling" in the state's history.

"But in this case, we're gambling and risking our state on the next weather report," he said.

Former Sen. Steve Geller, D- Cooper City, who co-sponsored the insurance law last year, said Friday he was "absolutely appalled at where they're going right now."