johnnymk

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business...business-front

TALLAHASSEE · The gravity of Florida's home insurance problems became clear last week. The state's property insurance market is "in a crisis," Senate President Tom Lee said. After eight hurricanes in two years, home insurance prices are soaring. Insurers are shedding thousands of policies. Homeowners wonder how they can afford the higher premiums.

Making matters worse, the state's home insurer of last resort and the backup fund for the insurance industry are broke and looking to Floridians to bail them out.

The Legislature has a month left to resolve the crisis, just in time for the 2006 hurricane season that starts June 1.

"We're starting to reach a point now where people are going to be forced from their homes because of insurance rates," state Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, said. "People are telling me they cannot afford their insurance."

Republican leaders who resisted using state tax money to pay off deficits at Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-backed home insurer, are now in favor of it as a much-needed help for homeowners.

Unless legislators act quickly, the state's homeowners will be footing the bill to cover Citizens' $1.7 billion shortfall for 2005. That adds up to a one-time assessment of $110 per $1,000 of annual premium. And virtually all Floridians will have to also pay an annual charge for years to replenish the state Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a reserve for insurers that's $1.55 billion in the red.

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“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” (Winston Churchill)

dbax791

Do you have an opinion on this johnnymk?

I think both parties are at fault. The homeowners for living in a place that is prone to natural disasters and the insurance companies for writing policies that they can not honor.

If you live on the Gulf coast, you need to expect hurricanes. If you live in the midwest, you need to expect tornados. If you live in California, you need to expect earthquakes and mudslides. If you live in Arizona, you need to expect drought and rampant wildfires.

IMO, the government has no business in bailing people out when they know the risks up front.

johnnymk

You have summed up my feelings exactly.

cocojambo

but it can be hard for these people to just "move out and go somewhere else"