Florida Peninsula Insurance Co. said this week that it's asking regulators to approve an average statewide rate decrease that would lead to "significant" savings for home and condo owners later this year or next.
The Boca Raton, Florida-based carrier said the proposal would mean an average statewide drop of 8.4% for homeowner's premiums and an average decline of 12% for condo premiums. Those would be the largest rate reductions in the company's 20-year history, according to Florida Peninsula.
The company credited the decreases to state insurance reforms that started taking effect in 2022. The changes included making it illegal for contractors to file insurance claims on behalf of homeowners, also known as "assignment of benefits," and eliminating one-way attorney fees that forced insurance companies to cover the legal costs of the plaintiffs suing them.
Due to the fraud and a series of storms, including powerful Hurricane Ian in 2022, nearly every insurer offering residential property coverage in the state raised rates, reduced their footprint or stopped writing new business, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, or FLOIR.
"The legislative reforms have contributed to a measurable drop in frivolous lawsuits and inflated claims, providing us the ability to pass on the savings from the law's changes to our policyholders," Florida Peninsula President Clint Strauch said in a statement. "This rate reduction shows that the legislative reforms have successfully addressed the root cause of increasing insurance premiums in Florida."
FLOIR did not immediately respond to an email for information on when it might rule on the company's request.
By early summer, the state had received more than 120 requests from companies to hold rates steady or decrease them, according to Mike Yaworksy, FLOIR's commissioner. He also cited a dozen new carriers entering the state for helping improve the insurance landscape.
"Our market is becoming more and more competitive," he said in a statement at the time.
Florida Peninsula was founded in 2005, the same year that produced 15 hurricanes, including Wilma that hit South Florida as a Category 3 storm. The year before, Category 3 Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans while hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne struck Florida within a six-week period.
According to first-quarter data filed with the state this summer, Florida Peninsula ranked as the ninth-largest property insurer in Florida with nearly 189,000 policies.
