Amica Mutual Insurance and Castle Key Indemnity have requested the increases in the state

Home insurance rate hikes are nothing new to Florida property owners, but a recent request made by two private insurers in the state aims to increase rates by over 50 percent.

Increases at that level are high even for Florida

Amica Mutual Insurance and Castle Key Indemnity have formally requested to raise their rates by more than 50 percent for policies covering condominiums and secondary residences. According to the companies, the increases are required to help the insurers to recover from having suffered substantial losses as a result of storms that happened in recent years.

Amica Mutual wants a 54 percent increase and Castle Key is aiming for an increase of 53 percent.

Rising home insurance rates

“It may have surprised some people because we haven’t seen these rates increase recently,” explained Insurance Information Institute (III) spokesperson Mark Friedlander. The request is the result of storm loss costs and rising construction and materials prices, added Friedlander.

“A lot of the damage from those hurricanes was basically oceanside condo structures. Those saw a lot of damage either on the Atlantic side or the Gulf side,” he said, pointing out that these insurers aren’t doing anything terribly different in Florida’s market. Last year, other insurers already increased their rates by double or even triple digits.

Stabilization and competition

Friedlander’s hope is that the market will start to stabilize, and that some competition will help to control the home insurance rates in the state.  Florida has experienced regular sharp increases in what people pay for coverage, to the point that many have labeled the issue as a crisis. That said, following a mass exodus, insurers are beginning to ease their way back into the state’s market once again.

“We now have seven new home insurers that have been approved by the regulator to write business in Florida this year,” he said.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has set up a virtual public meeting on the subject of the home insurance rate increase requests so consumers have the opportunity to learn more.