State Farm pulling out of Florida

[Mugu]

By RANDY DIAMOND
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

State Farm Florida is pulling out of the homeowner insurance business in Florida, the company said this morning, in a surprise move that will leave more than 800,000 policyholders without coverage and will cause almost certain turmoil in the Florida insurance marketplace.

"Faced with steeply declining resources to cover future claims and expenses, State Farm Florida has little choice," said Jim Thompson, president, of State Farm Florida. ''This is not an action we wanted to take, but one we must take given the realities of the Florida property insurance market.

snip

Thompson said the plan requires regulatory review, and State Farm Florida will not begin dropping policies under the plan until that process is complete. Florida, however, has no law on the books that would prevent State Farm from leaving the state's homeowner insurance market.

State Farm Florida emphasized that it was submitting a two-year plan that seeks to limit disruptions for customers, and if approved, will allow them time to find coverage with other insurers.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2009/01/27/0127statefarm.html">Complete article

[Earth_First]

1. Sounds like the time to leave State Farm may be drawing near...

Suggestions anyone?

[Dr.Phool]

2. I just got my renewal notice last week.

[byrok]

3. Guess I've gotta go shopping. n/t

[Not Me]

9. Me too. My SF policy expires in May

And I don't expect this to be too pretty.

[John Q. Citizen]

4. That's the insurance racket for you. They don't make money taking risks.

[raccoon]

5. Insurance companies aren't in business to pay CLAIMS. They're in business to make money. nt

[Deja Q]

7. So when they say they care or are there, it's all a lie?

Misadvertising is illegal, is it not?


Yes, they are there to perform a service. Paid for by customers. Good work means greater profits. The revenue has to be separated into "claim coverage" and "profit" buckets.

[jpak]

6. Florida is so messed up in this respect

and don't hold yer breath waiting for republicans to fix it - every impacted industry (real estate, construction, insurance etc.) has bought them off.

and ye chickens are coming home to roost.

[Pithy]

8. Thanks, Jeb!

[SoCalDem]

12. The massive building binge turned out to not be so great for insurors

Nice idea when the weather's great..just rake in the moolah and buy some more glass skyscrapers, host some sporting events...but when all those houses 8 ft apart have to face those inevitable hurricanes...well that's another story..

People forget what insurance USED to be all about..

In its purest form, it made sense for ALL the people in a community to pay into a "fund" to "insure" that it they had a fire in the THEIR home there would be money, pooled by everyone, to make them whole again.. The likelihood of any one of them having a fire was slim, and over the years paying IN, the money pool would inevitably get large enough to cover the occasional calamity, where several homes might catch fire or be ruined in another disaster.

Houses were not piled one on top of the other back then, so it was a good bet for insurors too.. A few people were paid to administer the money, the bank made money from "storing" it, and the payments from indivbiduals was relatively small..everyone "won"..

Even back when I was a kid, homeowners' paid off on all kinds of things.. I remember when our screen door blew off in a storm..My mother thought NOTHING about calling State Farm, and they sent a guy to take pictures, and within a few days we had a new screen door..

Imagine anyone even filing a claim for something so small these days..

[florida08]

10. well am not surprised

Have had my auto insurance with them for over 20 years. Had been will Allstate as long and never filed a claim. 2 years ago my agent sent me a letter warning me I would no longer be covered for homeowners after my policy expired. But actually they did me a favor. Found better homeowners for less money. Good hands people just gave me the finger.

[Dr.Phool]

11. Where did you find better ins?

I'm gonna start shopping too. And, they're going to lose my 2 cars and motorcycle to boot.

[tabatha]

13. Yes, where did you find it?

if possible to share. Thanks.

[florida08]

15. sure thing

I'm in N.Florida..(Orange Park). Called around for a few days and found an agent not to far from me who wrote me with
American Strategic Insurance (ASI) They covered us for tornadoes even if from a hurricane which Allstate required more out of our pocket for. I believe they're out of St. Petersburg. My hurricane deductible is 1000.(was more with Allstate) Cost is around 600/year. We aren't in a flood zone so that would probably be more.
http://www.americanstrategic.com/

[tabatha]

16. Thanks.

[AlCzervik]

14. they shouldn't be allowed to write auto policies anymore than, that should go to a company

that is still willing to do both.

[ihatehannity]

17. i would too

FL is in the shit-hole.

then again, to pull out... they should be big enough to weather this storm

[merh]

18. bastards show a profit and still screw their customers

............................... $ millions ......... % change from 2006
Revenues................... 61,611.6................. 1.8
Profits......................... 5,463.7................. 2.8
Assets..................... 181,421.6 —
Stockholders'equity...... 63,693.6

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/10199.html