The long struggle between State Farm Florida and the insurance regulator has come to a close. Under a Consent Order announced today from the office of Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, State Farm Florida will keep most of its property insurance business in the state. The Order grants the insurer a rate increase of 14.8 percent and the authorization to non-renew 125,000 policies of its 810,416 residential property policies reported as of October 2009. Even after the non-renewals, State Farm Florida will remain the largest private insurer of property insurance risk in Florida.

In the Consent Order, McCarty stated, "This agreement is the product of a long and arduous negotiation process. The final result is beneficial to the people of the State of Florida, and beneficial to the Florida insurance marketplace. The consent order satisfies the Office's requirements issued in our Order dated Feb. 13, 2009, and allows State Farm Florida to remain a viable insurer in the Florida market."