Florida property insurance claims top $3-billion as market continues to slide

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In May, Florida lawmakers were summoned back to Tallahassee to try and fix the state’s cratering homeowner’s insurance market.

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Part of the legislation that came out of that special session mandated a report from the Office of Insurance Regulation. Now that report is out, and the picture for the state is not improving.

“In 2021, insurers paid approximately $3,087,242,000 in direct domestic homeowners’ DCC expenses,” the report found, highlighting the growing cost of litigation.

Read: Citizen’s Property Insurance facing 900 new lawsuits a month

The report also found the cost of reinsurance, the insurance that insurance companies purchase to protect themselves, had increased as well, finding, “the cost of that reinsurance has increased by 54 percent from 2019 figures” and that “the cost of that reinsurance has increased by 28 percent from 2020 figures.”

Read: The Florida Senate wants to fix the state’s insurance market. Here’s how

The report comes as four insurers were placed in receivership after being declared insolvent this year, and another 12 have stopped writing policies in the state.

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