ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A historic forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts 17 to 25 named storms this hurricane season. That's their highest pre-season prediction — ever.
But ironically, there’s now unexpected relief from insurance companies as we enter the busy season. Many insurance companies are pledging to keep rates unchanged and some are even dropping prices for homeowners.
State regulators and insurance experts all say it's because of the legislation passed a couple of years ago to curb frivolous lawsuits. Insurance carriers are now saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in legal bills and are including those savings in their rate requests.
“This is tremendous news for Florida homeowners,” Mark Friedlander, communications director for the Insurance Information Institute said.
After years of dramatic insurance rate increases, the Florida market is finally stabilizing.
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“I think that's really incredible when you're looking at what's being talked about as what's going to be a record-breaking hurricane season and carriers still, in spite of that, want to come in and do business in Florida, that's a real kudos to the state and what the state did,” HH Insurance President Jake Holehouse said.
So far this year, ten carriers have filed a zero percent increase with the state, and nine now have filed for decreases. But your own renewal policy could go up or down.
“These are average rate decreases,” Friedlander said. “It doesn't mean everybody sees the same. Some might see less, some might see more in terms of a rate decrease.”
That's because while insurers are saving money on lawsuits, it's only one variable that's used to come up with an individual homeowner policy.
“The expectation has been, I’m getting my renewal rate, and it's going to be a 30% to 60% rate increase if not a 100% rate increase,” Holehouse said. “What we're seeing now is more in that zero to 10%, zero to 15% rate difference.”
Other positive news for insurance in Florida overall is that eight new insurance companies have come into the market, creating more competition and major insurers that left the state are in serious talks about returning.
One piece of advice insurance agents offer ahead of hurricane season is to take a video of each room of your home and document all your possessions now, so you don't forget anything if you have to make a claim after a storm.
You can find more information on protecting yourself during hurricane season in our series "Hurricane Hacks," which you can find here.
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