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Florida Insurance Markets Collapsing

Posted by Sami Thalji | Aug 13, 2021

Since February 2021, Universal Insurance Company of North America, Southern Fidelity Insurance Company, and Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance Company have asked Florida officials to allow them to cancel or not renew more than 54,000 customers statewide. Insurance companies cite "enormous losses" as the reason. Statewide they claim the property insurance industry lost $1.6 billion over the last few years. Sorry, but these claims seem like a bad joke. The insurance industry is always crying about losing money. But this is what happens when politicians create false markets that attempt to guarantee huge profit windfalls for companies. Basically, these companies are saying if they can't be guaranteed huge profits (not even average profits) then they don't want that particular business. Checking on Universal's Dunn & Bradstreet profile they say "While some companies shy away from insuring homes in hurricane-prone Florida, Universal Insurance Holdings is right at home there." They also show a continued pattern of increased revenue since their introduction in the market place in 2017 going from approximately $750m in 2017 to 1.07 billion in 2020. While I don't have much faith in Florida's current leadership to actually solve a problem that affect everyday Floridians, if they don't solve the insurance market then the rising premiums are going to price average consumers out of home ownership. A good solution in my mind is to not let insurance companies drop customers because they are not profit centers and let them fail out of the market. 

About the Author

Sami Thalji

Sami Thalji is a native Floridian, born in Clearwater and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sami graduated from Osceola High School in Seminole, Florida before attending and receiving both his Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctor from the University of Florida in Ga...

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