Progressive Insurance begins dropping home insurance policies in Florida
BRADENTON, Florida – When Bradenton resident Ira Kasdan got a letter last month that he was being dropped by Progressive Insurance, it was a sad feeling.
dropped by progressive
“Dear policyholder, your policy will expire on 1st July at 12:01amscheduled tribe , 2024, for the following reasons. After careful consideration we are unable to offer you a renewal policy due to our reduced hurricane risk. Please contact your agent to find replacement coverage,” the letter read.
Last fall Progressive confirmed to ABC Action News that they would not renew policies in Florida starting in May 2024 to “balance our risk,” they told us in a statement.
“I was shocked, I was shocked,” Kasdan said. “There may come a time when as much as we love Florida, we will no longer be able to live here.”
Difficult to find a new insurance company
As a retiree on Social Security, her fears don't stop there. He said that it is not easy to get information about potential new companies. He emailed ABC Action News for help.
“These are no-name carriers, companies you've never heard of,” Kasdan said. “Or they've been around 2 to 7 years and, in some cases, appear to be bankrupt carriers or branches of carriers that have left the state.” ” “I'm afraid that we spend a lot of money to buy coverage and we only have a promise of coverage that may be no good when it's needed.”
He sent a list of things he'd like to see on a centralized website, and urged the state to put together a one-stop shop online tool to help consumers shop for new coverage.
“I really want the state to be proactive,” he said. “Put up a website with metrics of all the carriers doing business in the state: How long have you been in business? How many homeowners do they insure? What's the percentage of claims that get paid? How long does it take you to get them paid. Put? “
Some information is not made public
ABC Action News spoke with the office of Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Petronis, who offered a long list of resources available to consumers, but data detailed and broken down by the company is not available to the public, a spokesperson said, adding that most of the information The business is the secret, the rationale, for insurance companies to keep the property insurance market competitive.
Kasdan said, “The idea that customer satisfaction ratings are a trade secret seems like baloney.” “Information about how these new carriers handle claims and how happy or unhappy customers are should not be secret. People should be able to decide which company they want to do business with.”
Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute said there is no one-stop shop for consumers looking for a new insurance company.
“This is not hiding information from consumers, this is hiding information from competitors. This is very common,” Friedlander said. “The consumer insurance agent needs to become an advocate in this process.”
Friedlander advised consumers to use third-party sites that independently rate insurance companies. They provided consumers with a list to get started.
A number of links and resources were also sent from both the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and the Office of Insurance Regulation. Many links, but still no centralized, easy-to-navigate location.
We've posted all those resources below:
Insurance Information Institute Resources
Third-Party Insurance Company Reviews:
www.Insurify.com (insurify.com)
Objective Customer Reviews:
Financial Rating:
Chief Financial Officer Office Resources
Here are some good resources and consumer support information from our website. OIR and Citizens have industry reports but as we discussed, it will not be as specific to the company as some would like.
Insurance Regulation Resource Office
consumer resources
If a consumer receives a non-renewable notice, they are encouraged to contact their agent immediately to seek alternative coverage. Insurers are required to follow Florida law regarding acceptable reasons for canceling or non-renewing homeowners' policies. This includes a required 120-day notice prior to the effective date of non-renewal to give consumers adequate time to find alternative coverage. Specific deadlines for notice requirements for various policy coverages can be found here S. 627.4133, FS (leg.state.fl.us),
OIR offers some resources to help consumers choose the best policy for them. For example, to help consumers determine the best policy for their needs, OIR also offers the Choice rate comparison tool to provide consumers with rate information for different types of insurance. Choice tools for auto and homeowners insurance are based on three pre-defined model risk scenarios, providing the consumer with a sample average rate in any Florida county. Choice Rate Tool is available at – (floir.com),
Consumers can also search for active companies on the OIR Active Company Search. On this database, consumers can search by any combination of company name, company type, address type, and authorized lines of business. Active companies will have information about their company type, authorization status and authorized lines of business. OIR Active Company Search is available at – (companysearch.myfloridacfo.gov),
A full list of OIR's consumer resources is available on our website here – (floir.com),
data processing
The OIR provides data resources that provide additional information about regulated entities.
Residential Market Share Report – OIR publishes quarterly market share reports containing information about policies in force, premiums and claims. Those reports are available on the OIR website here – (floir.com),
