Homeowners Insurance Crises

The home insurance crisis in the state of Florida has reached critical mass and is heading towards a melt down. The Insurance Industrys assault on the low income, middle class and retirees is continuous and merciless in driving homeowners and windstorm premiums to unaffordable proportions. Where are the checks and balances that the Florida voters entrusted in the Governor, insurance commissioner and state legislators to provide a coherent and intelligent solution to this crisis? It is very unimaginable to see insurance premiums increase more than 100\% within one year and no elected official taking a stance to resolve this issue. Prime example is State Farm; on April, 2006 they increase their homeowners insurance by 59\% and then again in November, 2006 by 112\% this information was obtained from the Office of Insurance Regulation; visit their website at http://www.floir.com to view other companies and their increase requests.



If allowed to continue the future will be bleak for Florida, as this will cause your constituents to leave the sate and newcomers not to reside in this great state. The abuse of high insurance prices will force single families and retirees to become homeless. The cost of insurance premiums for the average homeowner has surged ahead of real estate taxes as the number one cost of owning a home. Property values and the housing industry will plummet causing the municipal tax base to erode affecting basic services etc. It will be a domino effect as related consumer and commercial industries see their bottoms lines suffer.



Through this protest, residents of Florida call out to our state government representatives and ask that more competition of insurance providers be allowed in the state of Florida. In addition, we ask that the State reevaluate the current misuse of property tax monies and reallocate funding to create a pot of funding for State Insurance that will pay homeowners in case of a disaster and if their insurance provider goes bankrupt; this is in addition to FEMA. Another idea is to put a cap on home insurance premiums. This will stop insurance provides from increasing premiums as they please at renewal time without the approval of the homeowner. Also, request that notifications for insurance renewals be 180 prior to renewal. Currently homeowners are notified and given 30 to 60 days to shop around or accept their new renewal rate.



It is time to make the usual election year rhetoric accountable as to specific actions that will be taken by elected officials to resolve the home insurance crisis here in Florida. The citizens of Florida want action, not campaign promises made to be elected. Empty campaign promises and character assassinations to defuse the issue and confuse the voters will not be the order of the day this election. This serious problem will require permanent solutions. The time is now to listen to your constituents and NOT PAID LOBBYIST for the Insurance Industry!

Florida Homeowners