Insurance is never a sexy topic, but it’s become a critical one in the Florida Keys. Previous and proposed hikes to windstorm insurance by the state-run Citizens Property Insurance threaten more than wealthy second- and third-home owners, and it’s time to pay attention.
The steeply rising costs of windstorm insurance through Citizens affect renters whose landlords have to pass on the increases to their tenants — or sell their property. The price hikes affect government agencies, such as the Key West Housing Authority, which must maintain windstorm insurance on dozens of properties while unable to raise the rents of their low-income tenants.
And now, on Thursday, June 8, Citizens will ask the state Office of Insurance Regulation to allow additional hikes that would increase wind insurance costs to Florida Keys policyholders by 14% to 26%. Those increases are in addition to a new requirement that forces all Citizens policyholders to also carry flood insurance, thus adding to an owner’s insurance costs.
The nonprofit Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe — FIRM — has worked for more than a decade to fight the increases that force Monroe County to pay some of the highest rates despite having the lowest number of claims and the strictest building codes in the state. The organization is now asking all Monroe County residents to contact the Office of Insurance Regulation and ask them to deny the sharp increases. Visit firmkeys.org for a formatted letter that can be sent to representatives in Tallahassee.
Mel Montagne, president of FIRM, and other board members are in Tallahassee this week to oppose the increases proposed in Monroe County.
“At a hearing Thursday afternoon, Citizens will present their proposed rates to the Office of Insurance Regulation, which also takes public comment, and FIRM will continue to provide commentary against the increases,” Montagne told the Keys Weekly on June 5. “Since 2003, Monroe County policyholders have given Citizens a profit of $850 million.”
In other words, Keys owners have paid $850 million more in premiums than they have received in insurance claims.
In addition, Montagne said, the county that provides the most profit to Citizens Insurance has no representative on the Citizens’ board of governors.
“Since 2021, Monroe County, which has 19,000 policyholders, has been without a representative on the Citizens board, yet there are two people on the board from St. Johns County, where there are only 4,800 policyholders. Tell me that’s not political,” he said.
“Monroe County residents consistently shoulder the burden of fraud and Citizens’ inconsistencies in addressing these circumstances for the rest of the state,” states the FIRM website.Visit firmkeys.org for further information and to take part in the Call to Action to oppose unfair rate increases for Monroe County.
