PolitiFact – What's the story of Crist reducing insurance rates?
Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Hurricane Ian exposed the instability of the state's homeowners' insurance market; six
An ad from Crist's campaign contrasts rates under DeSantis with what happened after Crist became governor 15 years ago.
"He's let home insurance rates skyrocket and he raised taxes on Floridians by
PolitiFact rated a similar claim by Crist about
In this fact-check, we'll examine Crist's claims about property insurance, something he's mentioned before.
Crist was
The raw numbers supported his claim of a 10% home insurance rate drop when Crist was governor, but they don't tell the full story of his lasting impact on property insurance.
Why insurance premiums dropped 10% by 2010
Eight hurricanes tore through
Crist, then a Republican, campaigned on a promise to help consumers and their wallets. After taking office, he called on the state Legislature to hold a special session on property insurance.
Lawmakers passed HB 1A with bipartisan support, and Crist signed it into law in
Statewide, insurance premiums under Citizens and private insurers dropped from an annual average of
"Typically, there is an 18-to-24-month cycle before we see impacts of insurance reform legislation in
So, that drop seen in 2008 is more likely a result of changes made before Crist took office. (Still, there was a 10% decline from 2007 to 2010 — Crist's first and last full year as governor.)
A
Windstorm mitigation credits, which date back to 1993, are discounts provided to homeowners who invest in modifications that increase their homes' resistance to storm damage.
However, some insurers would offset their costs by imposing other fees on consumers and it wasn't until 2006 that the
The average homeowners' insurance premium declined 3% from 2008 to 2009. But falling rates were short-lived. Private insurers said they could not compete with Citizens' frozen rates, a report from the
Citizens swelled by about 400,000 more policies between 2004 and 2007, for a total of 1.2 million properties covered in 2010.
Luckily for Floridians, and the insurance market under Crist, there were no major hurricanes during Crist's tenure. If there had been, Citizens likely would have been unable to cover claims, the
In 2009, Crist signed HB 1495 to end the rate freeze and allow Citizens to increase homeowners' insurance premiums; the law capped rate increases to 10% until Citizens became actuarially sound, or in line with private insurers' pricing practices.
Insurance rates under DeSantis
"Nearly all of the reforms that became law in 2007 that insurers didn't like have either been repealed or are not being enforced," said
Still, a report by the
Experts said DeSantis did not cause
"It's hard to say we don't have a more vibrant insurance market because of something DeSantis has done," said
Although DeSantis called on the Legislature to hold a special session for property insurance in April, the laws passed during the three-day session did not guarantee consumers would receive premium relief.
Friedlander, of the
Our ruling
Crist said he "reduced insurance rates by 10%."
Crist in 2007 signed a law that froze rates for Citizens, the state-run insurer. Homeowners' insurance rates initially fell then rose, leaving an overall reduction of 10% by the time Crist left office.
Experts hesitated to give Crist full credit for the reduction, saying a large share of credit was due to revisions made to
It's also worth remembering that no major hurricane struck
Crist's actions appear to be partially responsible for the 10-percent drop, though he likely attributed too much of an impact to his policies. With that clarification, we rate the claim Mostly True.
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