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Politics

A warrior chosen for insurance battle

Lawyer Timothy Volpe won lower property insurance rates for Monroe County. Commissioners think he can do it for Pasco, too.

By DAVID DeCAMP
Published September 27, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - County commissioners and activists fighting rising insurance rates finally found a man who might unite them: Timothy Volpe, a lawyer who successfully challenged high insurance rates in Monroe County.

He won a reduction in rates when that county faced a steep increase, and he wants to lead a similar charge to leverage better rates for Pasco.

"It sounds like to me he's our guy," Commissioner Ted Schrader said Tuesday as the board voted unanimously to hire the 24-year lawyer from Jacksonville.

"I've never seen a presentation so concise in such a short period of time," Chairman Steve Simon said.

Members of Homeowners Against Citizens Florida applauded the vote, which also included approval to try to hire an actuary to study the county's rates. The Pasco group wants lower rates by private insurers and Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort.

"Now we know they are at least interested," said Holiday resident Kenneth McRoberts, noting that none of the commissioners attended a recent meeting of the group.

Earlier this year, the group's founder, Nicole Deg of New Port Richey, filed to run against Simon, although she later withdrew from the commission race. But McRoberts said escalating rates have forged insurance into the board's biggest issue.

A $250,000 home in Pasco's higher sinkhole risk area would face a $6,300 bill, while one in nonsinkhole areas face a $2,400 bill, said Volpe, citing state data on possible new rates for Citizens. But even this year's $2,200 bill has McRoberts pondering what was unthinkable a few years ago: going without insurance.

Volpe made it clear that Pasco is no sure bet to win lower rates. But the county appears to have special cases that can be explored, he said. Sinkhole risks have caused premiums to spike here more than elsewhere, but recent legislation should tamp claims down, he said.

The state also will require insurers to drop the basis for sinkhole coverage by 14 percent for filings after Sunday. It could only lessen the blow, though.

"It may be that it goes up 40 percent instead of 54 percent," Volpe told commissioners. "Now, I know that's grim for all of you."

Companies already have proposed new rates prior to Sunday. But Volpe said a case could be made to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation that the lower basis for sinkhole coverage - a portion of the overall insurance - should be applied this year, at least in the case of Citizens, a semipublic operation.

In Monroe, Volpe won a 32 percent drop in rates vs. the 25.9 percent increase that Citizens first wanted. Using actuarial data by Allen Schartz of New Jersey - whom Pasco will approach - Volpe argued that the Florida Keys' county was being billed too much for wind risk.

Such relief remains far from done in Pasco. Although details of contracts must be worked out, Volpe said he expects to begin work for Pasco "within days." He said his agreement will be modeled after Monroe County's contract, which was worth $50,000. Details were unavailable about the actuary's possible pay.

But it was enough to buoy the Homeowners Against Citizens Florida members, who spent more than an hour with him in a county conference room planning the next steps.

[Last modified September 26, 2006, 22:34:57]