Market Insights

A rate hike for Florida's largest property insurance carrier is expected to take effect early next year, but there is already talk the anticipated rate hike may be insufficient to keep Citizens Property Insurance Corp. afloat in the wake of a big storm.

Asked recently to list some of the biggest factors behind rising insurance costs, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty named the usual suspects, including the rising price of reinsurance and the overall economic downturn.

Insurance carriers and agents alike are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn. Every organization is looking for ways to do more with less, but we cannot lose sight of customer retention and the search for new business.

Along with heading up the financial services and employee benefit department of the long-standing Plastridge Insurance Agency in Southeast Florida, Julian Lago is current president of the Florida Association of Health Underwriters (FAHU).

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As any motor carrier knows, America runs on trucks. Motor carriers play a vital role in keeping our factories and offices supplied and our store shelves stocked.

Double-digit rate decreases are nearing the end in transportation insurance, after a long stretch of declines. The market appears to be in a transitional phase as established transportation underwriters attempt to hold the line on rates for key business.

Maritime employers have an insurance problem. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish liability exposure under the Jones Act and general maritime law from workers' compensation exposure under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.