Posted on 07/19/2007 3:25:31 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- State Farm Insurance, Florida's largest private home insurer, said Thursday it will drop about 50,000 homeowners policies next year in what it considers risky areas along the coast.
Most of the homes and condos that will lose their coverage are within a few miles of the coast, but some are farther inland, State Farm spokesman Justin Glover said.
Glover said the move was ``a very tough decision for us to make, but it is part of our decision to remain in this market.'' State Farm filed paperwork Thursday with the state Office of Insurance Regulation announcing its intention to drop the policies.
State Farm will still be the state's largest private home insurer by far after the move, he said.
The largest hurricane insurance provider overall is state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which originally was created by lawmakers to sell coverage to those who couldn't get private insurance. Citizens now has the authority, however, to also insure some coastal property even when private coverage is available.
Glover emphasized that no policy holders will lose coverage during the current hurricane season, which runs through November. Customers will start to be dropped after Jan. 1, 2008, when their policies come up for renewal.
State Farm has more than 1 million policies in Florida, so the number of homeowners whose policies won't be renewed is a small percentage of the company's business.
But the move adds to the shortage of property insurance options for coastal homeowners, more of whom will now have to turn to Citizens. State Farm was one of the few private insurance companies writing policies in the high-wind areas closest to the coast.
By no small coincidence, Florida was named as the second worst judicial hellhole of all 50 states this week. Our thanks once again for a corrupt legal system for enriching trial lawyers at public expense.
The coastlines in Florida are overbuilt, the government makes it costly to enter the insurance business in Flordia, trial lawyers run rampant...
There is a natural cause and effect going on here.
This could be a good thing. As a person who would like to buy on the coast of Florida, this will bring the prices down to where I can afford them. Since I’m in a position to buy for cash, I can pass on the insurance...
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