Editorial: Florida auto insurance rates too high

OUR POSITION: The Legislature should take a good look at why Florida has the most expensive auto insurance rates in the nation.

Florida has the most expensive car insurance rates in the country, according to two recent reports.

Full coverage car insurance in Florida costs $3,183 annually with minimum coverage coming in at $1,128, according to BankRate.com and Quadrant Information Services.

Florida's car insurance costs are $1,669 (or 58%) higher for full coverage and $506 (or 81%) higher for minimum coverage than the national averages ($2,014 and $622), respectively.

Auto insurance premiums are 39% more expensive for full coverage and 77% higher for minimal coverage in Florida than California.

Another new analysis by Insure.com also found car insurance premiums in Florida the most expensive in the country — averaging $2,650 annually.

Florida auto insurance rates are $445 more expensive annually than California, $540 more than New York and $1,537 more expensive each year than Ohio (which has the cheapest auto premiums in the country).

Floridians already deal with high premiums for homeowners and commercial properties. Many private insurers have left the Florida property and homeowner's insurance markets because of hurricanes and tropical storms.

High costs for insurance are also part of affordability problems facing many households in Florida and nationally.

High costs of housing, new and used cars, groceries as well as auto and home insurance continues to strain plenty of households.

It's why many Americans have pessimistic views of the economy, their personal finances and "Bidenomics" headed into the November elections. Strong yields on Wall Street and macroeconomic job growth and unemployment don't pay the bills for many Floridians and Americans.

A new poll from The Economist and YouGov shows just 22% of Americans think the economy is getting better. Just 19% of women, 15% of Hispanics and 13% of workers making under $50,000 are positive about the economy.

Similarly, just 16% of Americans (including 13% of women and 12% of seniors) say their personal finances improved in 2023 in the year-end survey.

So why are Florida's car insurance premiums the highest in the country?

Insure.com's analysis also points to extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tropical storms as well high numbers of seniors, teens and uninsured drivers on Florida roadways.

The insurance industry also points to Florida's high number of lawsuits as well as high volumes of claims — including for sometimes fraudulent windshield repairs — and auto thefts have helped drive up premiums.

Calls for legal reforms are frequent from insurers and their Republican allies in Tallahassee. There is a renewed effort at the Florida Legislature to change Florida's no-fault insurance rules and coverage requirements with the aim of reducing lawsuits and fraud.

Like with the homeowners insurance issue, we should look at legal and other reforms while still protecting policyholders and consumers. We've learned from recent hurricanes that threatening to or actually suing some insurers are policyholders' only course of action.

Many Floridians and Americans also continue to get the feeling they are being gouged after the spikes with inflation after all the monetary and fiscal infusions of the pandemic. U.S. consumer prices are up 19% since the pandemic and 17.4% since President Joe Biden took office, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, corporate profits and stock yields have done pretty well.

Households across our state continue to see the affordability crunch. Until that changes, economic confidence will be low and financial angst high.