Are any of the people ‘defending’ Citizens actually living in Fla or using Citizens in any capacity? Their rates are increasing exponentially, their customer service is dropping at the same rate, and now their commission schedule is following suit.
Yes, claims are a huge part of the increase, but paying those high salaries is a bigger concern to the company CEO’s.
I’ve lived in Fla for 15 years. I’ve had 1 claim from Frances that only resulted in $6500 coming from my insurance company. The damage was actually $15,000, but depreciation and deductible leave me holding the remainder of the bill. That’s still appx $18,000 PROFIT on what I’ve paid in premiums.
I’ve read all the comments. Some who are ANTI-Corporation/insurance company and some who want Gov’t intervention. What you all fail to know is that the Dept. of Financial Services who regulate our business limits/regulates the amount of profit a Insurnace company can make in our state. CAN YOU SAY GOV’T regualtion!! When you folks learn enconomics 101 called supply and demand and as some eluded to “FREE MARKETS” then maybe this state will see Normal companies offering to write policies. If you where in business you mean to tell me you’ll want to operate NOT AT A PROFIT??? Maybe this is why this ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY is so common in our thinking, you’ve been fooled and obviously never operated a buisness dealing w/ price, expenses, losses, costs, profit, salaries. Quit looking for handouts from the GOV’T. IF you live in Fla and live near the ocean it’s only a matter of time before you may suffer Hurricane damage. You all knew the risk. THE papers print the wind ratings of Hurricane force winds of the state. S. Fla is worse than Central fla. We all knew this don’t say you did know. WE ALL KNEW THE RISKS!!! If you didn’t think it would happen then what sand trap were you living in. Go back to school and learn HISTORY!!!!!! I went through Hurricane Camille in 1969 in Mississippi, I lived WAY, Way upstate and saw the destruction. YALL FROM THE NORTH and truck right back up there and enjoy the winters. What trade will you give, winters or warm weather, risks and return.
BN-Agent
PS: I do sell Citizens when I can’t write the policy in the emitted market. The client is fully aware by me what they are getting.
I cannot believe that these people are actually educated. Making an argument using their personal loss history as a basis for the premium they are paying?
Insurance is about “spreading the risk”, unfortunately, the dollars in FLorida will be paid on storm losses over a five year period. THe lady that had $6,500 in losses while paying $30,000 in premium supplemented the thousands that paid $30,000 and suffered $500,000 in losses.
Lets, see if we can shed some light on this for the uninformed and those that just spew junk. Citizens what the genious creation of Tom Gallagher the Current Chief financial officer and head of the insurance department for the state of Florida, he is also the state fire marshall and wears a few other hats as well. This organization (for lack of a better word) was created to give Florida consumers a last ditch resort to go to in order to obtain insurance coverage if they were not able to get coverage with a REAL insurance company. The state of Florida is not an insurance company and does not WANT to be in the insurance business, they do not Want to sell coverage to consumers, but they are they if needed. They do not want to be competitive and the laws in Florida are very clear that they MUST be non competitive and have higher rates than REAL insurance companies. This is in part to keep people from flocking to citizens for coverage if they were cheaper. Have you EVER seen a government run program be successful and affordable, NO. Why would any person with a brain think that a business would not want to sell a product if there is a raging demand for the product? the answer is, if you loose money doing it. While insurance companies are noted for having the second largest buildings in downtown cities (Banks are the largest)they must make a profit or they can not stay in business, It may strike some of you that Citizens does not ask to raise its rates, it is told that it must raise them to be the most expensive option out there. Your friend Mr. Gallagher created Citizens, appointed the board, and authorizes the changes and rate increases, but he won’t approve other insurance companies rates requests, so that they may be a viable insurance option, in other words there is no competitive nature in Florida, because the companies are not allowed to charge a reasonable rate, meanwhile Citizens continues to be there for you as a gift from the gracious Tom Gallagher, he is your friend and has given you the most expensive insurance option available. remember him as he runs for the Governors office. Citizens is not overpriced, Real insurance companies are underpriced and will not sell at a loss, for the consumers that do not understand the political climate involved here, I assure you that property insurers are not making a profit in Florida this year, Citizens has unbelievable rates and are now the largest insurer in the state, this should tell you something. Even with excessive profit margins that Citizens is allowed to collect even they will probably assess losses against the REAL insurance companies, meaning that if you are insured with State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide or any of the others that your rates will go up to help pay the losses that Citizens paid out. How does that make you feel now. Your the lucky one with a good policy from a good insurance company and you still have to pay money to Citizens to cover their losses. If you don’t like this the best thing you can do is complain to your Florida congressmen and senators. Tell them that the Office of insurance regulation needs to approve rate filings and allow companies to sell again at a profit, remember it will still be lower than Citizens, it must be by law. Then call the Department of Financial services (Tom Gallaghers office)and tell them that Tom has not done a very good job at giving you options for insurance and that you don’t want to be insured by his company, Why should Citizens be allowed or required to continue to raise prices and charge more and more and Florida consumers are left with no other choices because the regulators won’t approve rates. God bless our country
Geez, I’ve been mistaken my whole life. Attorneys seem like a pretty good group when compared to the insurance crowd! You people chase money so hard you’d shove your head up your asses chasing a penny.
Now I know the true meaning of white collar crime.
just like insurance companies! Read this news release below. Listen, all I’m looking for is a fair deal. Not an adjuster who does not know the price of a 16 penny nail, piece 4×8 cdx plywood or 12 oc rbb siding or impact resistant windows plus what it costs to install it! When the insurance companies start out by offering 5cents on the dollar just because 60 percent of the population is willing to take it is wrong. You wear down the the other 25 to 35 percent of the people by taking your time and then only truly pay claims out for what you owe on 5 to 15 percent of all the cases.
You people can justify it any way you want but how the game is played sucks.
How come it isn’t like all those ads I see on TV? Yeah right, I thought so, go crawl back under your insurance rocks! Get some lobbyists to payoff more politicians to change more laws and you’ll be ready for the next catastrophe!
GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL [ TOP ]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: ELIZABETH HIRST
FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002
(850) 488-5394
GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL REDUCING COSTS FOR HURRICANE AND OTHER
CATASTROPHIC STORM INSURANCE
~~Legislation will create millions in immediate tax savings, reduce assessments over time~~
MIAMI- Governor Jeb Bush today signed legislation to lower catastrophic property insurance costs for thousands of Floridians. The Governor signed Senate Bill 1418, known as the Windstorm Bill, into law at Florida International University’s Hurricane Center in Miami.
The legislation creates a federally tax-exempt Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) to provide full wind, hurricane, and hail policies for residential and commercial properties unable to obtain insurance. In addition, Citizens will help lower costs by issuing tax-free bonds, capping windstorm rate increases and offering consumers a choice to remain in the state’s coverage when private options are available. Senator Rudy Garcia (Hialeah) and Representatives Jeff Atwater (Palm Beach), Gus Barreiro (Miami), Sally Heyman (N. Miami Beach) and Ken Sorenson (Key West) were prime sponsors of this bill.
“This bill provides important reforms that will save Florida’s homeowners millions of dollars in catastrophic insurance fees,” said Governor Bush. “No one wants to imagine that another devastating hurricane will hit our state, but if it does, this legislation will help contain insurance-related costs. While we have always worked to provide an insurance safety net, this will ensure that those who rely on this coverage are getting the best insurance for their money.”
Citizens will combine Florida’s current insurers of last resort, the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association (JUA) and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association (FWUA). Presently the FWUA provides hurricane coverage to about 410,000 coastal residents, more than 65 percent of whom are South Florida residents. JUA covers approximately 110,000 policyholders, but is prevented from providing insurance in areas covered by FWUA. The JUA was created after Hurricane Andrew for homeowners across the state who could not obtain insurance in the private market. In the long term, this legislation will help lower assessments for policy holders by allowing Citizens to assess surplus line policies when a deficit occurs as a result of a catastrophic event. This will enable citizens to broaden the assessments for debt financing, and ultimately lower policy assessments. Surplus line companies wrote almost $1 billion in homeowner insurance premiums last year, but are currently exempt from this process.
The Citizens Property Insurance Corporation will:
Fill any gaps in the coverage provided by these two groups by offering homeowners one policy with rates similar to those in the private market, or provide wind-only coverage for those homeowners who currently have FWUA insurance.
Cap residential windstorm rates at 10 percent. These rates were slated to increase as much as 40 percent this year.
Allow policyholders to purchase all homeowner and catastrophic coverage through their own personal insurance agent. In the past, homeowners who were only able to get coverage under FWUA or JUA would have to go to more than one entity to get their coverage.
Provide rates based on the formula used by JUA to help prevent runaway rate increases experienced by homeowners with FWUA insurance. Citizens will be governed by a seven member board made up of Florida residents, appointed by the State Treasurer, effective July 1. The Treasurer will also appoint the executive director and senior managers, as well as a technical advisory group.
Joining Governor Bush at the signing were Senator Rudy Garcia, Representatives Jeff Atwater, Sally Heyman, Ken Sorensen, Philip Brutus (N. Miami), Gaston Cantens (Sweetwater), and Eleanor Sobel (Hollywood), and Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher, as well as members of the Professional Insurance Agents, Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.
Reading the comments depresses me, especially realizing that the majority of these comments are from Insurance professionals.
Even a cursory knowledge of ratemaking would tell you that a premium is there to cover costs associated with insurance. If you look at any actuarial studies submitted with the rate filings (since all changes must be filed with the state authority), you will see that for every premium dollar received, the insurer pays out over one dollar in claims and expenses. Most insurance companies operate at a combined ratio of > 100%.
These rates aren’t arbitrarily developped, but through scientific, mathematical, actuarial processes taking into account loss experience. Yes you are being penalized for living near the ocean, but such is a cost of life. You have to bear all the costs of your decisions.
When you take into account these facts plus the fact that many sane insurance companies are fleeing Florida, you will realize that there is a legitimate method to the madness!
Richard, I am not sure if you understand or not, Your posting the article about the Governor signing the bill to form Citizens supports my point and the basis for my last post. Citizens was touted as a solution to consumers by the State of Florida, regardless of what people may think or say it is a government program. Do you think it really will save anybody money. You were fed a line of crap by politicians and some people believed it. If Citizens is not what it was supposed to be or what we were promised it would be,who is to blame? I would say the guy that created it- Tom Gallagher a politician that wants to replace Jeb Bush. Dont blame insurance companies for the outragious prices and rate increases that Citizens has taken. Insurance companies don’t have anything to do with it. This Pile of mess was created by politicians, is run by people appointed by the politicians, is protected by them and they require the rate increases. Dont blame insurance companies if were given a low ball estimate by an independant adjustor that was outsourced to the company. MOST insurance companies do not have outside field adjustors that handle home owners coverage, they use independent adjustors. Sure companies have paid what the adjustor said to pay and did not review the claim very much, but it really irritates me that I have had MORE people literally begging to give back money because they know they can fix the damage for less than the total loss settlement that they received. Before you start asking why would anyone want to give back money, it is because they will never be able to get insurance on that property again if it is recorded as a total loss unless they go to Citizens for coverage. This means that companies are paying out way more than necessary on claims. This is also not right. I have had over $400,000 refused or turned back in by numerous customers that were told the home was a total loss and received checks, but were able to fix the damage for less than half of the payout. I do not represent ANY companies that have purposely low balled claims, We have certainly had those that needed to be reviewed again and additional money was sent, most the time the customers just need to get several estimates for repairs (if possible) and talk to their agents. And as far as your lobbyists comments, do you really think insurance companies wanted the politicains to change the deductible provisions for multiple storms? illiminating a second deductible could cost companies millions but only if it happens again. Consumers will be hurt by this with higher premiums. when do you think we will have another storm season like 2004?
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Are any of the people ‘defending’ Citizens actually living in Fla or using Citizens in any capacity? Their rates are increasing exponentially, their customer service is dropping at the same rate, and now their commission schedule is following suit.
Yes, claims are a huge part of the increase, but paying those high salaries is a bigger concern to the company CEO’s.
I’ve lived in Fla for 15 years. I’ve had 1 claim from Frances that only resulted in $6500 coming from my insurance company. The damage was actually $15,000, but depreciation and deductible leave me holding the remainder of the bill. That’s still appx $18,000 PROFIT on what I’ve paid in premiums.
some of you whiny seniors should give up the lotto tickets you blow your money on
I’ve read all the comments. Some who are ANTI-Corporation/insurance company and some who want Gov’t intervention. What you all fail to know is that the Dept. of Financial Services who regulate our business limits/regulates the amount of profit a Insurnace company can make in our state. CAN YOU SAY GOV’T regualtion!! When you folks learn enconomics 101 called supply and demand and as some eluded to “FREE MARKETS” then maybe this state will see Normal companies offering to write policies. If you where in business you mean to tell me you’ll want to operate NOT AT A PROFIT??? Maybe this is why this ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY is so common in our thinking, you’ve been fooled and obviously never operated a buisness dealing w/ price, expenses, losses, costs, profit, salaries. Quit looking for handouts from the GOV’T. IF you live in Fla and live near the ocean it’s only a matter of time before you may suffer Hurricane damage. You all knew the risk. THE papers print the wind ratings of Hurricane force winds of the state. S. Fla is worse than Central fla. We all knew this don’t say you did know. WE ALL KNEW THE RISKS!!! If you didn’t think it would happen then what sand trap were you living in. Go back to school and learn HISTORY!!!!!! I went through Hurricane Camille in 1969 in Mississippi, I lived WAY, Way upstate and saw the destruction. YALL FROM THE NORTH and truck right back up there and enjoy the winters. What trade will you give, winters or warm weather, risks and return.
BN-Agent
PS: I do sell Citizens when I can’t write the policy in the emitted market. The client is fully aware by me what they are getting.
I cannot believe that these people are actually educated. Making an argument using their personal loss history as a basis for the premium they are paying?
Insurance is about “spreading the risk”, unfortunately, the dollars in FLorida will be paid on storm losses over a five year period. THe lady that had $6,500 in losses while paying $30,000 in premium supplemented the thousands that paid $30,000 and suffered $500,000 in losses.
Gullible? Uneducated?
DUMBASSES!
Lets, see if we can shed some light on this for the uninformed and those that just spew junk. Citizens what the genious creation of Tom Gallagher the Current Chief financial officer and head of the insurance department for the state of Florida, he is also the state fire marshall and wears a few other hats as well. This organization (for lack of a better word) was created to give Florida consumers a last ditch resort to go to in order to obtain insurance coverage if they were not able to get coverage with a REAL insurance company. The state of Florida is not an insurance company and does not WANT to be in the insurance business, they do not Want to sell coverage to consumers, but they are they if needed. They do not want to be competitive and the laws in Florida are very clear that they MUST be non competitive and have higher rates than REAL insurance companies. This is in part to keep people from flocking to citizens for coverage if they were cheaper. Have you EVER seen a government run program be successful and affordable, NO. Why would any person with a brain think that a business would not want to sell a product if there is a raging demand for the product? the answer is, if you loose money doing it. While insurance companies are noted for having the second largest buildings in downtown cities (Banks are the largest)they must make a profit or they can not stay in business, It may strike some of you that Citizens does not ask to raise its rates, it is told that it must raise them to be the most expensive option out there. Your friend Mr. Gallagher created Citizens, appointed the board, and authorizes the changes and rate increases, but he won’t approve other insurance companies rates requests, so that they may be a viable insurance option, in other words there is no competitive nature in Florida, because the companies are not allowed to charge a reasonable rate, meanwhile Citizens continues to be there for you as a gift from the gracious Tom Gallagher, he is your friend and has given you the most expensive insurance option available. remember him as he runs for the Governors office. Citizens is not overpriced, Real insurance companies are underpriced and will not sell at a loss, for the consumers that do not understand the political climate involved here, I assure you that property insurers are not making a profit in Florida this year, Citizens has unbelievable rates and are now the largest insurer in the state, this should tell you something. Even with excessive profit margins that Citizens is allowed to collect even they will probably assess losses against the REAL insurance companies, meaning that if you are insured with State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide or any of the others that your rates will go up to help pay the losses that Citizens paid out. How does that make you feel now. Your the lucky one with a good policy from a good insurance company and you still have to pay money to Citizens to cover their losses. If you don’t like this the best thing you can do is complain to your Florida congressmen and senators. Tell them that the Office of insurance regulation needs to approve rate filings and allow companies to sell again at a profit, remember it will still be lower than Citizens, it must be by law. Then call the Department of Financial services (Tom Gallaghers office)and tell them that Tom has not done a very good job at giving you options for insurance and that you don’t want to be insured by his company, Why should Citizens be allowed or required to continue to raise prices and charge more and more and Florida consumers are left with no other choices because the regulators won’t approve rates. God bless our country
Geez, I’ve been mistaken my whole life. Attorneys seem like a pretty good group when compared to the insurance crowd! You people chase money so hard you’d shove your head up your asses chasing a penny.
Now I know the true meaning of white collar crime.
just like insurance companies! Read this news release below. Listen, all I’m looking for is a fair deal. Not an adjuster who does not know the price of a 16 penny nail, piece 4×8 cdx plywood or 12 oc rbb siding or impact resistant windows plus what it costs to install it! When the insurance companies start out by offering 5cents on the dollar just because 60 percent of the population is willing to take it is wrong. You wear down the the other 25 to 35 percent of the people by taking your time and then only truly pay claims out for what you owe on 5 to 15 percent of all the cases.
You people can justify it any way you want but how the game is played sucks.
How come it isn’t like all those ads I see on TV? Yeah right, I thought so, go crawl back under your insurance rocks! Get some lobbyists to payoff more politicians to change more laws and you’ll be ready for the next catastrophe!
GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL [ TOP ]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: ELIZABETH HIRST
FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002
(850) 488-5394
GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL REDUCING COSTS FOR HURRICANE AND OTHER
CATASTROPHIC STORM INSURANCE
~~Legislation will create millions in immediate tax savings, reduce assessments over time~~
MIAMI- Governor Jeb Bush today signed legislation to lower catastrophic property insurance costs for thousands of Floridians. The Governor signed Senate Bill 1418, known as the Windstorm Bill, into law at Florida International University’s Hurricane Center in Miami.
The legislation creates a federally tax-exempt Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) to provide full wind, hurricane, and hail policies for residential and commercial properties unable to obtain insurance. In addition, Citizens will help lower costs by issuing tax-free bonds, capping windstorm rate increases and offering consumers a choice to remain in the state’s coverage when private options are available. Senator Rudy Garcia (Hialeah) and Representatives Jeff Atwater (Palm Beach), Gus Barreiro (Miami), Sally Heyman (N. Miami Beach) and Ken Sorenson (Key West) were prime sponsors of this bill.
“This bill provides important reforms that will save Florida’s homeowners millions of dollars in catastrophic insurance fees,” said Governor Bush. “No one wants to imagine that another devastating hurricane will hit our state, but if it does, this legislation will help contain insurance-related costs. While we have always worked to provide an insurance safety net, this will ensure that those who rely on this coverage are getting the best insurance for their money.”
Citizens will combine Florida’s current insurers of last resort, the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association (JUA) and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association (FWUA). Presently the FWUA provides hurricane coverage to about 410,000 coastal residents, more than 65 percent of whom are South Florida residents. JUA covers approximately 110,000 policyholders, but is prevented from providing insurance in areas covered by FWUA. The JUA was created after Hurricane Andrew for homeowners across the state who could not obtain insurance in the private market. In the long term, this legislation will help lower assessments for policy holders by allowing Citizens to assess surplus line policies when a deficit occurs as a result of a catastrophic event. This will enable citizens to broaden the assessments for debt financing, and ultimately lower policy assessments. Surplus line companies wrote almost $1 billion in homeowner insurance premiums last year, but are currently exempt from this process.
The Citizens Property Insurance Corporation will:
Fill any gaps in the coverage provided by these two groups by offering homeowners one policy with rates similar to those in the private market, or provide wind-only coverage for those homeowners who currently have FWUA insurance.
Cap residential windstorm rates at 10 percent. These rates were slated to increase as much as 40 percent this year.
Allow policyholders to purchase all homeowner and catastrophic coverage through their own personal insurance agent. In the past, homeowners who were only able to get coverage under FWUA or JUA would have to go to more than one entity to get their coverage.
Provide rates based on the formula used by JUA to help prevent runaway rate increases experienced by homeowners with FWUA insurance. Citizens will be governed by a seven member board made up of Florida residents, appointed by the State Treasurer, effective July 1. The Treasurer will also appoint the executive director and senior managers, as well as a technical advisory group.
Joining Governor Bush at the signing were Senator Rudy Garcia, Representatives Jeff Atwater, Sally Heyman, Ken Sorensen, Philip Brutus (N. Miami), Gaston Cantens (Sweetwater), and Eleanor Sobel (Hollywood), and Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher, as well as members of the Professional Insurance Agents, Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.
Reading the comments depresses me, especially realizing that the majority of these comments are from Insurance professionals.
Even a cursory knowledge of ratemaking would tell you that a premium is there to cover costs associated with insurance. If you look at any actuarial studies submitted with the rate filings (since all changes must be filed with the state authority), you will see that for every premium dollar received, the insurer pays out over one dollar in claims and expenses. Most insurance companies operate at a combined ratio of > 100%.
These rates aren’t arbitrarily developped, but through scientific, mathematical, actuarial processes taking into account loss experience. Yes you are being penalized for living near the ocean, but such is a cost of life. You have to bear all the costs of your decisions.
When you take into account these facts plus the fact that many sane insurance companies are fleeing Florida, you will realize that there is a legitimate method to the madness!
Your response really shows your ignorance. Suggest you get a clue.
Richard, I am not sure if you understand or not, Your posting the article about the Governor signing the bill to form Citizens supports my point and the basis for my last post. Citizens was touted as a solution to consumers by the State of Florida, regardless of what people may think or say it is a government program. Do you think it really will save anybody money. You were fed a line of crap by politicians and some people believed it. If Citizens is not what it was supposed to be or what we were promised it would be,who is to blame? I would say the guy that created it- Tom Gallagher a politician that wants to replace Jeb Bush. Dont blame insurance companies for the outragious prices and rate increases that Citizens has taken. Insurance companies don’t have anything to do with it. This Pile of mess was created by politicians, is run by people appointed by the politicians, is protected by them and they require the rate increases. Dont blame insurance companies if were given a low ball estimate by an independant adjustor that was outsourced to the company. MOST insurance companies do not have outside field adjustors that handle home owners coverage, they use independent adjustors. Sure companies have paid what the adjustor said to pay and did not review the claim very much, but it really irritates me that I have had MORE people literally begging to give back money because they know they can fix the damage for less than the total loss settlement that they received. Before you start asking why would anyone want to give back money, it is because they will never be able to get insurance on that property again if it is recorded as a total loss unless they go to Citizens for coverage. This means that companies are paying out way more than necessary on claims. This is also not right. I have had over $400,000 refused or turned back in by numerous customers that were told the home was a total loss and received checks, but were able to fix the damage for less than half of the payout. I do not represent ANY companies that have purposely low balled claims, We have certainly had those that needed to be reviewed again and additional money was sent, most the time the customers just need to get several estimates for repairs (if possible) and talk to their agents. And as far as your lobbyists comments, do you really think insurance companies wanted the politicains to change the deductible provisions for multiple storms? illiminating a second deductible could cost companies millions but only if it happens again. Consumers will be hurt by this with higher premiums. when do you think we will have another storm season like 2004?