The state-run Citizens Property Insurance is expected to lose 200,000 policies by the end of the year. (more…)

State Farm, Florida’s largest private home insurer, agreed to cut property insurance rates by an average of 9 percent. (more…)

The Florida State Legislature is going back to Tallahassee in September to balance the budget. (more…)

For Florida mortgage holders besieged by soaring home insurance and rising property taxes, this is the cruel twist no one saw coming. (more…)

The property insurance market remains tight in Florida, but at least consumers are starting to enjoy more choices. (more…)

Is it any wonder that 1,168 Broward County homeowners have endured submitting late Florida mortgage payments?

(more…)

From Jupiter to Hollywood, the triple-whammy of Florida mortgage costs, property taxes and homeowner’s insurance rates have people riled.

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A new company is offering special reduced rate property insurance coverage for some of our areas most wealthy residents. It’s called PURE - Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange.

Lately property insurance rates have skyrocketed for everyone. Therefore, PURE wants to protect jewels, cars and art from hurricanes and thieves - while at the same time lowering insurance prices for wealthy Florida mortgage loan holders.

“Everybody thought they were paying too much and they were right,” said Ross Buchmueller, President of PURE.

The company will sell property/casualty insurance for high value homes, cars, jewelry, art and personal excess liability coverage. Buchmueller says by carefully selecting and screening all potential members, the company can offer lower interest rates than their competitors.

“Pooling only those who are well protected rather than subsidizing those who aren’t as well protected - the time is right and so far so good,” he said.

PURE says with certain coverage options, homeowners will be protected from both wind and water damage. Fear of these accidents occasionally prompt individuals from staying away from Florida home loans and residences in the state.

But there is a catch in the Collier County housing market, too: To receiver insurance from PURE your home has to be worth more than $1 million and be built to the latest codes and standards.

The company will also offer personal excess liability ranging from $5 to $10 million.

Florida lawmakers moved quickly Wednesday to close the so-called “Panhandle exemption” that allows looser building codes in Northwest Florida, today’s Pensacola News-Journal reports.

Just how much that might lower state property insurance rates for consumers remains to be seen, however.

“This legislation addresses the outdated notion that the Panhandle is somehow less prone to major storms. I ask for your … support to help make the Panhandle as safe as we can,” said Marti Coley (R-Marianna), who sponsored the bill.

The House voted unanimously to pass the bill, and the Senate did the same with its version. Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to sign the legislation.

Senators in Panhandle districts offered a stronger defense of the exemption that politically connected North Florida legislators have kept in place for nearly a decade.

Critics have claimed the exemption was not based on science, while its defenders say doing away with it would add to the cost of homes, already rising throughout North Florida. Combined with Florida mortgage payments, insurance and taxes pose difficult obstacles to homeownership.

“This will not have anything to do with rates being stabilized or rates going up,” Democratic Sen. Al Lawson of Tallahassee said before the Senate passed its bill. “This is just to recognize that we do not have the resources you have in other areas [of the Florida housing market].”

The measure would bring the Panhandle region, from Escambia County over to Franklin County, under the same standard that requires new homes built in Florida to withstand 120-mph storms.

Lawmakers carved out an exemption in 2000 for inland areas in the Panhandle on standards for withstanding wind-borne debris. Regulators beefed up the Panhandle wind insurance codes last year, but not to the same standards as the rest of the state.

Area home builders and some Northwest Florida lawmakers complain that there is no way to measure how much the new building codes will make rates fall, even though construction costs are sure to rise.

“We’re not overly happy about it,” said Jack Glenn, director of technical services for the Florida Home Builders Association.

Studies show that the most vulnerable homes in the 2004-05 hurricane seasons were older homes, Glenn said.

“I’m having a problem in my mind understanding why they’re laying this off on new homes. It’s the existing housing stock that’s the problem.”

The home builders association estimates that the change will raise the cost of a new home in the low to moderately priced market by $2,500-3,000, mostly the cost of storm shutters and impact-resistant glass.

Sam Miller, executive vice president of the Florida Insurance Council, acknowledged there may be no way to measure the effect a truly statewide building code will have on Florida insurance rates.

“The real benefit is perception. Everybody knows the stronger the building codes, the lower the losses will be,” Miller said.

There’s little doubt that after being hit by seven storms in a 13-month period, Florida is facing an insurance crisis. Escalating property taxes and the high cost of a Florida home mortgage to purchase a home in the first place are pricing many people out of the market. Hopefully, this measure offers some measure of relief to the citizens of Florida.

There’s strength in numbers.

At least that’s the belief when it comes to confronting the Florida insurance crisis and working towards and amicable solution.

Taking this mantra to heart, three large trade groups have banded together to form the Property Insurance Reform Coalition, which hopes to solve the state’s insurance crunch and curtail higher property insurance rates through legislation.

The coalition links the following powerful groups:

1. The Florida Home Builders Association
2. The Florida Association of Realtors
3. The Florida Association of Insurance Agents

The newly-formed coalition has the backing and support of other groups such as the Florida Bankers Association, Florida Apartment Association and the Association of Florida Mortgage Brokers. The group plans to submit several proposals to state lawmakers and Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday, in hopes if discussing some solutions during a special session of the State Legislature late next month or early in December.

“The way we deal with the insurance problem is critical to the long term viability of the Florida economy,” said Scott Johnson, executive vice president of the Tallahassee-based Florida Association of Insurance Agents. “Meaningful reform will require more than a band aid solution.”

John Sebree, V.P. of the Florida Association of Realtors, agreed and added a different view.

“The impact of this crisis is being felt in every sector,” Sebree said. “Our people are suffering, our businesses are suffering and our economy is suffering. Everyone has a stake in this solution.”

New homebuyers are most affected by higher insurance costs, the coalition said. Higher home insurance rates, impact fees and property tax hikes are squeezing young families out of the Florida housing market, which in turn affects Realtors, home builders and mortgage lenders alike. Without action, the state is looking at a mass exodus of middle-income residents, some believe.

Johnson said skyrocketing insurance rates are such a big problem that they cause some buyers to walk away from deals as often as Florida home loan rates or taxes.

Meanwhile, builders have trouble obtaining risk insurance and the bottom lines of small and large business are being eroded slowly by rate hikes in commercial real estate insurance.

“If the legislature meets, which they are rumored to be, we’ll offer our proposals to them. These final recommendations support our pillars of reform,” Johnson said.

Bush has said he wants to schedule a session for late next month, when lawmakers return to elect leaders and set up committees for the upcoming legislative session. But Bush said he would convene lawmakers on the homeowners insurance issue only if there are issues that have already been agreed upon. The timing is critical because insurers set rates in January.

A number of recommendations are likely to come out of the committee to deal with ways to reduce the cost of reinsurance, including lowering the threshold in which state funds can be tapped in the event of a major storm.

“A lot of things happen in January, so we need to be ahead of the game,” said incoming Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie.

“This plan offers a well thought out approach by some of the best and brightest minds in our state,” said Douglas Buck, government affairs director for the Florida Home Builders Association.

“It provides a strong foundation for building long term solutions for addressing the complex needs of the current market.”

The Property Insurance Reform Coalition’s four-point plan to address the home insurance crisis:

• Spread the exposure and fund for wind insurance throughout the state.
• Redesign the structure and operation of Citizens, the state insurer of last resort.
• Reduce hurricane loss through more stringent building codes and establish incentive programs to harden homes.
• Encourage new insurance capital and increased competition through elimination of bureaucratic and regulatory barriers to protect the public from unfair trade practices.