Politics

Crist freezes rates for Citizens

The governor also touts a Web site listing top carriers, but the site is under fire for inaccuracy.

By JENNIFER LIBERTO and TOM ZUCCO
Published June 27, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist signed an insurance bill Tuesday that would freeze Citizens Property Insurance Corp. rates until 2009 and make it easier for consumers to get into Citizens.

Crist also unveiled a government tool that he says will help consumers shop for competitive policies, partly in response to disappointment that insurance premiums have yet to drop as much as predicted.

"Do I feel a little bit of a sense that maybe some of these (insurance) companies have broken some of their promises?" Crist asked. "That concerns me. We need to continue to hold their feet to the fire."

The governor touted a Web site that lists the top 25 insurance carriers in each county, ranking them by the average policy price written for $150, 000 worth of insured structure value on a 5-year-old home with a 2 percent deductible. The Web site, www. shopandcomparerates.com, is supposed to highlight who is writing the cheapest policies in each county.

But the site is already coming under fire for being inaccurate and misleading.

For one, several insurers listed as writing cheaper policies in the Tampa Bay area are actually dropping policies or dramatically restricting their policy writing.

For example, the Web site ranks United Services Automobile Association Group, Florida's fourth-largest property insurer, as the cheapest in Hillsborough and Pasco counties. But that company insures only veterans and active-duty military and is dropping about 27, 000 policies on second homes.

State Farm Florida, the state's largest private insurer, also contends the data is misleading.

In Monroe County, for instance, State Farm is listed under the heading "companies reporting recent new business." But State Farm has not written new business in Monroe since 1993, said State Farm spokesman Chris Neal.

The new measure signed by Crist freezes Citizens' rates until Jan. 1, 2009, and allows policyholders to buy a Citizens policy if their private insurer is charging at least 15 percent more than Citizens' rates. The law is expected to buoy Citizens' 1.3-million policy count to nearly 2-million by year's end.

[Last modified June 26, 2007, 23:02:08]