State freezes insurance rate hikes and cancellations during Hurricane Irma recovery

Sept. 14--To help Florida property owners recover from Hurricane Irma, the state's insurance commissioner has issued an emergency order temporarily suspending policy cancellations and rate increases by insurance companies.

Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier signed the order, made possible by Gov. Rick Scott's Sept. 4 state of emergency declaration. It bars companies from raising property insurance rates until Dec. 3 and from canceling or not renewing policies between Sept. 4 and Oct. 15.

The order also bars cancellation or nonrenewal of policies covering residential properties damaged by the hurricane until at least 90 days after the properties are repaired. Any cancellations or nonrenewals issued or mailed from Aug. 25 through Sept. 2 shall be withdrawn and reissued no earlier than Oct. 15, the order states.

Jeff Grady, president and CEO of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents, said his organization plans to send advisories to member agents clarifying what the order means for policyholders.

"This type of emergency order pertaining to insurers is common after a large disaster," he said. In particular, preventing cancellations or nonrenewals until after damaged properties are repaired "can be very important when contractors are limited and rebuild periods can be longer," Grady said.

The order also extends to 90 days any deadlines that policyholders would normally face to take required actions or provide information to their insurers.

Not stated in the order is which companies have pending rate-increase requests that will be delayed.

In June, state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. filed its annual rate-change request seeking increases on multi-peril single-family home policies averaging 10.4 percent in Broward County, 10.5 percent in Miami-Dade County and 9.3 percent in Palm Beach County.

The Office of Insurance Regulation held a public hearing on Citizens' rate filing on Aug. 23 and was expected to issue a final order this month approving the increases as proposed or with modifications.

The emergency order not only delays that approval until at least Dec. 3, but it almost certainly delays the effective date of Citizens' rate increases beyond Feb. 1, the date the company had proposed the increases to take effect, Citizens spokesman Michael Peltier said Thursday.

That's actually good news for any South Florida Citizens customers due to renew between Feb. 1 and the revised effective date, whenever that might be. Those customers will renew for a second time under current rates and not face whatever rate increases are ultimately approved until 2019, Peltier said.

In addition, the delay permanently resets the clock on future Citizens rate increases. They will now be proposed to take effect on anniversaries of the revised effective date, whenever it ends up being, he said.

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