The first Florida property-casualty insurer to seek a rate adjustment following the state's creation of a discount reinsurance program underwent sharp questioning from regulators Tuesday.

The Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company sought a 30.3 percent rate hike to offset the reductions it made last month in response to expansion of the state-backed disaster reinsurance fund.

Farm Bureau actuary Missy Shelley told NU Online News Service following the hearing Tuesday that the carrier was seeking a reduction of about 2 percent once the impact of last month's cut was taken into account.

Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature approved an expansion of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to allow more primary carriers to purchase reinsurance at cheaper rates than were being offered by the private market.

But the expected rate reductions have disappointed some regulators who feel the reinsurers ended up purchasing additional coverage in the private market to buy more protection against larger and more frequent storms.

At issue is exactly how much reinsurance cost can be passed onto consumers--a point on which regulators and carriers disagree.

At the hearing, Florida Deputy Commissioner Belinda Miller in comments indicated to Florida Farm that in her view they had no savings to pass on to consumers because they were purchasing extra insurance.

William Stander, regional manager for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), said regulators were attempting to lay down the law to carriers.

"At the direction of the governor, OIR is trying to send a message to the industry with this hearing," he said.

Last week, the governor and industry representatives engaged in a war of words about how the industry was responding in the form of rate reductions to legislative actions.

Farm Bureau's Ms. Shelley said the company was already locked into private reinsurance contracts when the lawmakers doubled the size of the catastrophe fund.

Mr. Stander said he expects several more companies to seek rate increases by the so-called "true-up" period in September when actual reinsurance costs will be factored into rate requests.

Special Reports /

Fla. Regulators Grill P-C Insurer On Rate Hike Request

Related Stories

Recommended For You