NU Online News Service Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

Counting commercial lines policies, 7,213 total policies were inspected. More than 52 percent of commercial l policies were increases, with 8 percent getting a decrease.

Citizens is planning to spend about $41.4 million over the next two years inspecting 44,220 policies. About 16 percent have been fully processed by underwriters.

According to an outline in the report, Citizens expects a premium gain of $19 million in 2011 and $124 million in 2012 for a total of $143 million. Minus expenses, the net result is $101.6 million.

At the start of the year, Florida's Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology's Windstorm Mitigation Committee concluded that windstorm mitigation discounts have hurt the state's property insurance market, driven by unclear decisions on how mitigation credits are applied to the ratemaking process. The current system has failed to operate as it should, the committee said.

The Florida legislature in 2005 mandated that all property insurers give discounts to properties that take steps to mitigate wind loss.

Recently, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty listed mitigation discounts among a handful of non-hurricane-related cost drivers that insurers say have decreased underwriting profits for many of them. In the 2010 legislative session, language aimed at stopping inappropriate mitigation discounts was put into SB 2044, which was widely supported by state lawmakers and the industry but was vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Special Reports /

Florida Last-Resort Insurer Finds Unjustified Mitigation Discounts

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