[The Shadow]

Originally Posted by Carla B

Insurance premium woes have been much on my mind, because we just got the bill for our annual renewal and were dismayed to find it had gone up $249! The part of the premium charged for hurricane protection did not increase. The biggest increase was for sinkhole coverage, which went from $179 to $349. We also got a $81. decrease in the credit for PC/Construction factor, whatever that is. Does that mean our 3-yr-old CBS house is becoming obsolete?

Apparently a Republican senator from SW FL convinced the legislature that sinkholes were the "new hurricanes" in Florida. Insurance companies can even deny sinkhole coverage in Pasco and Hernando counties, where many of the claims originate, forcing homeowners into the Citizens state pool.

For many years for us, insurance has started out at a reasonable rate when we've first insured a piece of property, then crept up year by year, even though there've been no claims.

"forcing homeowners into the Citizens state pool."

Gov. Charlie Crist made this bad situation much worse with his populist crusade to suppress insurance rates. He and Republican legislators froze rates charged by Citizens for three years.

Thereafter, they limited premium increases to 10 percent a year.

The result is that Citizens is woefully underfunded. To raise enough money to be fully solvent, Citizens would have to increase rates a whopping 56 percent. This means its customers are paying 44 cents on the dollar for their policies.

Consider this: Between 2004 and 2010, sinkhole claims have cost Citizens $867 million. Yet it has only collected $272 million in sinkhole premiums.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,614988.column