Here’s why property insurance premiums could be going up in Florida and in Tampa Bay
Jun 7, 2018
Three major hurricanes caused about $80 billion in insured losses nationwide for property and casualty insurers in 2017, but in Florida, legal maneuvers are as much a factor as weather in driving up pricing on homeowners’ insurance policies, a new report says.
“Pricing on homeowners property risks in Florida continue to increase, but not as a direct result of catastrophe loss activity,” according to the report from Fitch Ratings. “Accusations of fraud and abuse of assignment of benefits clauses [a legal tool that allows a third party to be paid for services performed for an insured homeowner] and the proliferation of nonwind, water-related claims, specifically litigated claims, led many property insurers to push for rate increases in recent periods.”