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Insurer's rate hike rebuffed

Hartford is the latest to be rejected when it asks for a big increase.

By CHRISTINA REXRODE, Times Staff Writer
Published September 13, 2007

The state said "No" to another insurance company clamoring to raise premiums.

On Wednesday, the Office of Insurance Regulation said it would reject requests from the Hartford Financial Services Group to increase property insurance rates in eight different categories.

The increases, requested at a public hearing Aug. 16, ranged from a relative low of 29.5 percent for standard homeowners policies to 225.9 percent for some condo plans. For its AARP homeowners policies, the Connecticut company requested an average increase of 46.4 percent.

The state wrote in a letter to Hartford that it had failed to justify the rate hikes.

"I am committed to ensuring that insurance companies doing business in Florida are offering policyholders the best rates possible," Kevin McCarty, the state insurance commissioner, said in a statement. "The rates proposed by the Hartford were not in line with this objective."

Earlier this year, the state began selling cheaper reinsurance to companies, with the stipulation that they pass on the savings to consumers through a final rate filing by Sept. 30. (Reinsurance is an added layer of coverage that insurance companies buy to help reduce their own risks.)

The state anticipated a flood of rate cut filings, but instead many insurers, like Hartford, are still seeking double-digit average increases.

Debora Raymond, a spokeswoman for Hartford, said in an e-mail that the company's requested hikes did pass all reinsurance savings to policyholders and that the company is reviewing its options.

Hartford has 21 days to request a hearing to dispute the state agency's decision.

Since July, state regulators have rejected rate increases proposed by about half a dozen other property insurers. Several more have withdrawn their rate requests.

Early this year, Hartford said it would not renew about 38,000 Florida homeowners policies starting in August 2008. It also said, at the time, that it would continue to write about 80,000 Florida homeowners policies through its partnership with AARP.

[Last modified September 12, 2007, 23:35:27]