This is in today's paper. BTW, before you read this, note, Nationwide is currently sending out non-renewal notices for 2008.
Nonrenewal notes draw ire
Officials: Media misinformed Floridians on insurance bill
By TOM McLAUGHLIN tomm@nwfdailynews.com
They?re back.
Those nonrenewal-ofinsurance notices that folks on the Emerald Coast had been led to believe they wouldn?t be seeing this year have begun appearing again in area mailboxes.
And they?re valid.
Allstate Floridian, which announced in January its intention to drop 106,000 homeowner policies in Florida, has cleared hurdles established by the governor?s office and is free to cancel policies as it sees fit.
That?s left people like Fort Walton Beach resident Bonnie Adams facing cancellation of her homeowner?s policy June 30, during the first month of hurricane season.
?I thought I was free. I had no reason to think I wasn?t,? Adams said. ?When they passed that legislation, I read an article or heard something they couldn?t cancel me until the end of hurricane season.?
Adams is not alone in being taken by surprise by the insurance company?s announcement. She likely did read that an executive order handed down from Gov. Charlie Crist?s Cabinet would protect her from rate hikes, nonrenewal or cancellation through November, the end of this year?s hurricane season.
In the Feb. 14 issue of the Northwest Florida Daily News, an article by The Associated Press in Tallahassee said just that.
?Lawmakers passed a law earlier this year aimed at lowering property insurance rates, but most of it won?t go into effect until June 1,? AP reported. ?So Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet last month passed an emergency rule to block cancellations or premium hikes until then.
?That would in effect prevent cancellations or rate increases through the end of the year because during hurricane season, which starts June 1, companies can?t raise rates without a long advance notice,? the AP article said.
The governor?s office and the state?s Office of Insurance Regulation now say the news media incorrectly reported that rate hikes and nonrenewals would be put on hold through November.
Jonathon Kees, a spokesman for the state Office of Insurance Regulation, said no one at the state level ever said the governor?s moratorium would protect state residents through June 1.
?I?m not sure where June 1 came from. The emergency rule never mentioned June 1,? he said.
?There has been some confusion in reporting,? Kees said. ?I think that?s led to some misunderstanding about what the rule was intended to do.?
Associated Press officials in Tallahassee declined to comment on the issue.
After the governor?s order was issued, Kevin McCarty, the commissioner of the Office of Insurance Regulation, ruled a moratorium would remain on rate hikes and cancellations until ?a rate filing reflecting the presumed factor is made.?
That meant the insurance companies had to determine how reforms passed by the Florida Legislature during a special session in February would impact rates.
Allstate did what it had to do to meet the state?s requirements and actually calculated that it could lower rates by 14 percent.
Then it started sending out the nonrenewals again.
?They were sending notices out the same day they announced the 14 percent rate reduction,? said Destin resident Roy Parker. ?My question is ?What is a 14 percent discount of nothing?? ?
Adam Shores, an Allstate Floridian spokesman, said the company?s plans call for eliminating all but about 350,000 of its existing homeowner policies. That will leave it as the second-largest private insurer in Florida, behind State Farm.
State Sen. Don Gaetz said he tried during the special session to prevent the kind of ?cherry-picking? he believes Allstate is engaging in.
He said he urged fellow lawmakers to force insurance companies to write a certain number of homeowner policies if they wanted to write other, more lucrative policies, in Florida.
?I believe Allstate?s actions violate the spirit of the bill,? Gaetz, R-Niceville, said. ?I hope the governor, attorney general and chief financial officer will take some action.?
Shores said the company has been upfront about its intention to pare down the number of customers it has in Florida, and cancellation notices should come as no surprise to anyone.
He said, ?I respectfully disagree? with Gaetz?s assessment of Allstate?s actions.
?We?re doing certain things to maintain our strength in the marketplace,? he said. ?We?re trying to come up with solutions to protect our customers as well as protect our ability to protect our customers.?
Adams, the Fort Walton Beach resident, Parker, and others facing this latest wave of policy cancellations, said they suspect they?ll face higher rates when they go shopping for insurance during hurricane season.
?I?m in worse shape than when the state told us they could help us,? Adams said.
Nonrenewal notes draw ire
Officials: Media misinformed Floridians on insurance bill
By TOM McLAUGHLIN tomm@nwfdailynews.com
They?re back.
Those nonrenewal-ofinsurance notices that folks on the Emerald Coast had been led to believe they wouldn?t be seeing this year have begun appearing again in area mailboxes.
And they?re valid.
Allstate Floridian, which announced in January its intention to drop 106,000 homeowner policies in Florida, has cleared hurdles established by the governor?s office and is free to cancel policies as it sees fit.
That?s left people like Fort Walton Beach resident Bonnie Adams facing cancellation of her homeowner?s policy June 30, during the first month of hurricane season.
?I thought I was free. I had no reason to think I wasn?t,? Adams said. ?When they passed that legislation, I read an article or heard something they couldn?t cancel me until the end of hurricane season.?
Adams is not alone in being taken by surprise by the insurance company?s announcement. She likely did read that an executive order handed down from Gov. Charlie Crist?s Cabinet would protect her from rate hikes, nonrenewal or cancellation through November, the end of this year?s hurricane season.
In the Feb. 14 issue of the Northwest Florida Daily News, an article by The Associated Press in Tallahassee said just that.
?Lawmakers passed a law earlier this year aimed at lowering property insurance rates, but most of it won?t go into effect until June 1,? AP reported. ?So Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet last month passed an emergency rule to block cancellations or premium hikes until then.
?That would in effect prevent cancellations or rate increases through the end of the year because during hurricane season, which starts June 1, companies can?t raise rates without a long advance notice,? the AP article said.
The governor?s office and the state?s Office of Insurance Regulation now say the news media incorrectly reported that rate hikes and nonrenewals would be put on hold through November.
Jonathon Kees, a spokesman for the state Office of Insurance Regulation, said no one at the state level ever said the governor?s moratorium would protect state residents through June 1.
?I?m not sure where June 1 came from. The emergency rule never mentioned June 1,? he said.
?There has been some confusion in reporting,? Kees said. ?I think that?s led to some misunderstanding about what the rule was intended to do.?
Associated Press officials in Tallahassee declined to comment on the issue.
After the governor?s order was issued, Kevin McCarty, the commissioner of the Office of Insurance Regulation, ruled a moratorium would remain on rate hikes and cancellations until ?a rate filing reflecting the presumed factor is made.?
That meant the insurance companies had to determine how reforms passed by the Florida Legislature during a special session in February would impact rates.
Allstate did what it had to do to meet the state?s requirements and actually calculated that it could lower rates by 14 percent.
Then it started sending out the nonrenewals again.
?They were sending notices out the same day they announced the 14 percent rate reduction,? said Destin resident Roy Parker. ?My question is ?What is a 14 percent discount of nothing?? ?
Adam Shores, an Allstate Floridian spokesman, said the company?s plans call for eliminating all but about 350,000 of its existing homeowner policies. That will leave it as the second-largest private insurer in Florida, behind State Farm.
State Sen. Don Gaetz said he tried during the special session to prevent the kind of ?cherry-picking? he believes Allstate is engaging in.
He said he urged fellow lawmakers to force insurance companies to write a certain number of homeowner policies if they wanted to write other, more lucrative policies, in Florida.
?I believe Allstate?s actions violate the spirit of the bill,? Gaetz, R-Niceville, said. ?I hope the governor, attorney general and chief financial officer will take some action.?
Shores said the company has been upfront about its intention to pare down the number of customers it has in Florida, and cancellation notices should come as no surprise to anyone.
He said, ?I respectfully disagree? with Gaetz?s assessment of Allstate?s actions.
?We?re doing certain things to maintain our strength in the marketplace,? he said. ?We?re trying to come up with solutions to protect our customers as well as protect our ability to protect our customers.?
Adams, the Fort Walton Beach resident, Parker, and others facing this latest wave of policy cancellations, said they suspect they?ll face higher rates when they go shopping for insurance during hurricane season.
?I?m in worse shape than when the state told us they could help us,? Adams said.
