Sunday, February 10, 2008

Panel On Home Insurance Rates Yields Ways To Shield Floridians

From the Tampa Tribune:

TALLAHASSEE - An unprecedented peek behind the curtain at how homeowners insurance rates are set in Florida has given state lawmakers plenty of ideas to take to bill-drafters in advance of this spring's annual legislative session.

From the way insurers are forecasting storms, to the profits they are allowed to earn, state senators vowed Tuesday to continue to tweak regulatory statutes to help provide lower premiums for homeowners.

"I don't think you're ever going to see the day again in Florida where insurance providers may assume that they can just throw something at the wall and see what the consequences are if it is not carefully thought through and justified in every detail," said Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-Palm Beach Gardens, co-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Property Insurance Accountability.

But it's not just greater scrutiny of rate proposals that lawmakers are considering after a grueling two days of testimony at the state Capitol from regulators and executives of five of the state's major home insurers.

"What we're finding out also," Atwater said, "is if there is any more we can do legislatively that doesn't harm the creation of a vibrant marketplace, but at the same time protects consumers from an industry that is beginning to use alternative sets of information at their whim when people are already on their knees."

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