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Panel asks for assist from insurers

Florida's insurance reform task force urges private insurers to resume offering wind policies in high-risk areas if the state is to climb out of its growing home insurance crisis, Florida's insurance reform task force said Thursday.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 22, 2006

MIAMI - Florida's private insurance companies must take on wind insurance in high-risk areas if the state is to climb out of its growing home insurance crisis, Florida's insurance reform task force said Thursday.

But just how to get the private sector back into the game when it comes to wind insurance remains the problem, since storm winds pose the greatest risk for damage.

With the National Hurricane Center's prediction that Florida is in a cycle of intense hurricane seasons that could last for decades, even rate hikes aren't making coverage much more attractive to insurers, said task force member and state Rep. Don Brown.

"(The insurers) are facing all the science, which says that we're not done yet," said Brown, R-De Funiak Springs.

Thursday's meeting was one of a number of hearings the task force is holding statewide to address a crisis of availability and affordability of home insurance. The task force will recommend strategies to the governor and the Legislature. Gov. Jeb Bush has said he would call a special session of the Legislature to make changes if a consensus can be reached on what to do.

One ray of hope came from a study commissioned by the task force and presented Thursday on the effect of homeowners' efforts to make houses more storm resistant. The task force has been looking into whether to require insurers to give standardized discounts to those who make such improvements.

The model designed by private consulting firm Risk Management Solutions Inc. found that reinforcing shingles, bracing the roof, adding high-impact shutters and wind-resistant doors can reduce damage by more than 60 percent.

The study may give more weight to the argument for a larger discount for those who follow such measures, and it could spark more interest among insurers in offering wind coverage to those who make the changes.

Some on the task force argued that the state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which currently provides wind insurance in high-risk zones, be allowed to expand to sell more lucrative fire and theft policies as well as to create competition for existing private insurers.

Citizens, the state's insurer of last resort, has become the state's largest insurer with 1.2-million policies.

[Last modified September 22, 2006, 00:09:05]