MIAMI – Sept. 20, 2012 – The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has a public meeting scheduled tonight in Miami to hear from policyholders about proposed rate increases by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. A group that opposes the rate increases – Policyholders of Florida – is rallying members to attend.
Anyone interested in the issue can watch the event online. The meeting, scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. at Wolfson Campus Chapman Center at Miami-Dade College – will be televised on . If watching, select Channel 9. says it will also post a video of the hearing on its website after the event “at a later date.”
The public outreach event will, according to Florida officials, focusing on proposed rate increases for its business in the Coastal Account, formally known as the High Risk Account (HRA), and the Personal Lines Account (PLA). These accounts include homeowners’ insurance, mobile home insurance and dwelling/fire lines of business.
Citizens plans additional filings for its Commercial Lines Account and commercial lines of business within its Coastal Account in the future, but evidence about the commercial filing might also come up at tonight’s hearing.
Citizens’ proposed statewide average rate increases for its homeowners’ line of business, including sinkhole, are:
• 11.1 percent for the Coastal Account
• 12 percent for the Personal Lines Account.
• Sinkhole coverage rates are slated to drop an average of 35.1 percent in non-coastal Palm Beach County and increase 111.9 percent in Marion County.
• Key sinkhole counties of Hernando, Hillsborough and Pasco reflect a 50 percent increase.
“Citizens wants to raise your rates – nothing new. This Thursday in Miami, you have an opportunity to tell them what you think,” Policyholders of Florida says in its news release encouraging the public to attend the meeting. The group says it “already received a ton of great feedback and RSVPs.”
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
