TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's largest property company on Wednesday proposed an average increase of nearly 430 percent for optional sinkhole coverage in response to soaring claims and 8.8 percent for all other perils, including hurricanes, fire and theft, all effective in 2012.
The board of state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. voted 4-0 to ask for approval for the higher rates from the state's Office of Insurance Regulation. Two members abstained because they are Citizens agents.
A new law passed this year lets Citizens, which insures more than 1.4 million homes and businesses, charge whatever it takes to pay for sinkhole claims. Citizens lost more than $200 million on sinkhole coverage in 2010, which was about twice as much as the previous year, said Sharon Binnum, the corporation's chief financial officer.
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