Florida consumers 'flabbergasted' as property insurers push for double-digit rate hikes

[steve2470]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-insurance-florida-idUSKBN2AC111

Florida property insurers are jacking up rates by double-digit percentages, blaming the hikes on lingering damage from past hurricanes, a wave of litigation, and a law that encourages lawyers to sue by allowing courts to award them big fees.

The rate increases in Florida, the third-largest property insurance market among U.S. states, are the highest in memory, according to some insurance agents and residents. One danger, they say, is that the new rates could make owning a home in Florida unaffordable.

“I was flabbergasted,” said Karlos Horn, a 35-year-old law student who owns a four-bedroom, single-family home in Hendry County, Florida. He said his premium doubled to $200 per month last August.

That is equivalent to half of his $400 mortgage payment and the largest increase in his five years as an owner.

[machoneman]

1. Wow I wish I paid so little!

[lpbk2713]

2. Mine is paid up until November. I might be in for a shock then.

I hope we don't have a busy hurricane season.

[TheRealNorth]

3. Global warming isn't so funny.....

When the bill comes due. Empowering home owners commit insurance fraud doesn't help either (I have heard quite a few stories of people ( most of them Republicans) taking advantage of disasters to do improvements. Essentially, they are mini-Trumps.

[Miguelito Loveless]

4. Wait, I thought Florida passed

"tort reform" and there would never be "frivolous" lawsuits ever again?

Buckle up, folks. You have not even begun to see where insurance rates are going in the coming years.

[PennyK]

5. $400 mortgage payment???

That's insane. Ours is around $1400, and coming from Long Island, it feels like chicken feed.

[Dreampuff]

6. There is also an issue with roofs.

Aren't insurance companies forcing some people to reshingle their roofs before they will continue insuring them?