{"id":316,"date":"2025-03-04T12:30:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T13:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/?p=316"},"modified":"2025-05-08T15:35:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:35:03","slug":"florida-reformsbear-fruit-as-premium-rates-stabilize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/04\/florida-reformsbear-fruit-as-premium-rates-stabilize\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida ReformsBear Fruit as Premium Rates Stabilize\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s legislative reforms to address claim fraud and legal system abuse are stabilizing the state\u2019s property\/casualty insurance market, according to the latest Triple-I Issues Brief<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

Claims-related litigation has significantly declined over the past two years, and premium averages are nearly flat, with several insurers requesting rate decreases from the state\u2019s insurance regulator.  In addition, the brief says, the number of insurers writing business in the state has rebounded after a multi-year exodus. This competition from the private market has allowed policyholders to leave Citizens Property Insurance Corp. \u2013 the state-run insurer of last resort \u2013 to obtain coverage at previously unavailable rates from a much healthier private market. <\/p>\n

According to the state\u2019s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), Florida in 2022 accounted for nearly 71 percent of the nation\u2019s homeowners claim-related litigation, despite representing only 15 percent of homeowners insurance claims. The same year \u2013 before Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida \u2013 six insurers in the state declared insolvency, primarily due to economic pressures from legal system abuse. Based on insured losses, Ian became the second-most costly U.S. hurricane on record, due in large part to extraordinary litigation costs for disputed claims. <\/p>\n

The Legislature responded to the growing crisis by passing several pieces of insurance reform that, among other things, eliminated one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits (AOB) for property insurance claims and prohibited misleading legal service ads and the misuse of consumer health information for legal services. <\/p>\n

Premium rate growth slowing<\/strong> <\/p>\n

The impact of the 2022 and 2023 reforms can be seen in premium rate changes, particularly with respect to homeowners insurance. Homeowners rates in Florida grew at a much slower rate in 2024, even as rate growth remained strong nationally. Growth in personal auto insurance premium rates in Florida has slowed since the repeal of AOB and one-way attorney fees, but the trend also is consistent with nationwide experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of factors involved in insurance rates, and Florida\u2019s property and auto markets are challenging,\u201d Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in February, \u201cbut\u2026data suggests that, in 2024, Florida had the lowest average homeowners\u2019 premium increases in the nation, and the overall market has stabilized, with 11 new companies having entered the market over the past two years.\u201d <\/p>\n

Among the top 10 national insurers writing homeowners insurance in Florida, 60 percent have expanded their business over the past year, and 40 percent of all insurers operating in the state filed for rate decreases in 2024, according to Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworksy. <\/p>\n

The cost of reinsurance also continues to decrease for Florida carriers. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2024, most companies paid less for reinsurance than they did in 2023,\u201d according to the OIR website. \u201cThe average risk-adjusted cost for 2024 was -0.7 percent, a large reduction from last year\u2019s change of 27 percent increase from the prior year.\u201d <\/p>\n

Reinsurance costs are factored into premium rates, so this is another reason Florida now has the lowest average rate filings in the United States in 2024, according to S&P Global Marketplace. <\/p>\n

Learn More:<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s Progress in Legal Reform: A Model for 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n

How Georgia Might Learn From Florida Reforms<\/a> <\/p>\n

Resilience Investments Paid Off in Florida During Hurricane Milton<\/a> <\/p>\n

Florida Homeowners Premium Growth Slows as Reforms Take Hold, Inflation Cools<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida\u2019s legislative reforms to address claim fraud and legal system abuse are stabilizing the state\u2019s property\/casualty insurance market, according to the latest Triple-I Issues Brief.   Claims-related litigation has significantly declined over the past two years, and premium averages are nearly flat, with several insurers requesting rate decreases from the state\u2019s insurance regulator.  In addition, the brief says, the number of insurers writing business in the state has rebounded after a multi-year exodus. This competition from the private market has allowed policyholders to leave Citizens Property Insurance Corp. \u2013 the state-run insurer of last resort \u2013 to obtain coverage at previously unavailable rates from a much healthier private market.  According to the state\u2019s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), Florida in 2022 accounted for nearly 71 percent of the nation\u2019s homeowners claim-related litigation, despite representing only 15 percent of homeowners insurance claims. The same year \u2013 before Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida \u2013 six insurers in the state declared insolvency, primarily due to economic pressures from legal system abuse. Based on insured losses, Ian became the second-most costly U.S. hurricane on record, due in large part to extraordinary litigation costs for disputed claims.  The Legislature responded to the growing crisis by passing several pieces of insurance reform that, among other things, eliminated one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits (AOB) for property insurance claims and prohibited misleading legal service ads and the misuse of consumer health information for legal services.  Premium rate growth slowing  The impact of the 2022 and 2023 reforms can be seen in premium rate changes, particularly with respect to homeowners insurance. Homeowners rates in Florida grew at a much slower rate in 2024, even as rate growth remained strong nationally. Growth in personal auto insurance premium rates in Florida has slowed since the repeal of AOB and one-way attorney fees, but the trend also is consistent with nationwide experience.  \u201cThere are a lot of factors involved in insurance rates, and Florida\u2019s property and auto markets are challenging,\u201d Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in February, \u201cbut\u2026data suggests that, in 2024, Florida had the lowest average homeowners\u2019 premium increases in the nation, and the overall market has stabilized, with 11 new companies having entered the market over the past two years.\u201d  Among the top 10 national insurers writing homeowners insurance in Florida, 60 percent have expanded their business over the past year, and 40 percent of all insurers operating in the state filed for rate decreases in 2024, according to Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworksy.  The cost of reinsurance also continues to decrease for Florida carriers.  \u201cIn 2024, most companies paid less for reinsurance than they did in 2023,\u201d according to the OIR website. \u201cThe average risk-adjusted cost for 2024 was -0.7 percent, a large reduction from last year\u2019s change of 27 percent increase from the prior year.\u201d  Reinsurance costs are factored into premium rates, so this is another reason Florida now has the lowest average rate filings in the United States in 2024, according to S&P Global Marketplace.  Learn More:  Florida\u2019s Progress in Legal Reform: A Model for 2025  How Georgia Might Learn From Florida Reforms  Resilience Investments Paid Off in Florida During Hurricane Milton  Florida Homeowners Premium Growth Slows as Reforms Take Hold, Inflation Cools <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319,"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316\/revisions\/319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drkarlgeorge.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}