Florida Regulators Give Insurers Higher Rate Hikes Than Requested

For South Florida homeowners, 2017 already figured to be a year of steep property insurance rate increases. For customers of two insurance companies, state regulators have made those increases even steeper than the companies sought. Why? State regulators say high costs stemming from excessive claims in the tricounty region requires the companies to charge customers more money than they would prefer. The state “has an obligation to approve rates that are [financially] sound — which may be more or less than what a company requests,” said Sha’Ron James, the state’s Insurance Consumer Advocate, who did not participate in the rate decisions.