Home insurer says it requested steep rate decreases for policies

 One of Florida’s largest property insurers says it has requested the largest rate decreases for home and condo unit owners in the company’s 20-year history. In a news release on Thursday, Boca Raton-based Florida Peninsula said it has proposed average decreases of 8.4% for its homeowner policies and 12% for condo unit policies. The decreases, if approved by state insurance regulators, would take effect Oct. 31. They would be another welcome development for Florida homeowners who have recently endured multiple years of steep cost inflation. Cost hikes are finally beginning to slow, and in some cases recede, as legislative reforms of 2022 and 2023 are reducing insurers’ claims and litigation costs, industry experts say. Arecent analysis by the South Florida Sun Sentinel showed that companies that insure about a third of the state’s homeowners were able to reduce costs between January and May while customers of companies that insure the other two thirds saw increases. Inflation, however, is preventing some premiums from going down even after companies cut rates. That happens when insured values rise because of increases in repair costs and the insurable value of homes. Still, Stacey Giulianti, Florida Peninsula’s chief legal officer, said the company’s proposed rate decreases are so substantial that they will drive down insurance costs for a large number of the company’s customers. Lower costs should take effect for most of the company’s policyholders later this year or in early 2026, the release said. “We’ve asked for very significant rate decreases, which obviously is phenomenal for more than 80,000 of our customers. We’re very proud of that and very excited!” he said by email on Thursday. Florida Peninsula president Clint Strauch was quoted in the release as saying that the reforms contributed to “a measurable drop in frivolous lawsuits and inflated claims, providing us the ability to pass on the savings from the law’s changes to our policyholders.” The rate decrease requests could not be verified in publicly available versions of Florida Peninsula’s filings with the Office of Insurance Regulation. The company applied “trade secret” designations that redacted the rate filings, as well as the types and numbers of affected policies. Rate changes are typically revealed when the office makes a final decision about them, which could take weeks or months. Giulianti said the decreases will go to customers with the company’s Preferred and Elite policies. Those are policies that are purchased voluntarily. The decreases will not be provided for policies acquired under a state program to depopulate Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-owned insurer of last resort, he said. https://enewspaper.sun-sentinel.com/shortcode/SUN315/edition/4614f4fd-7de9-4795-8883-79f09c73ba2a?page=c65aa9b3-551a-4f2a-b854-a3118efb1b5c&