RateWatch: State Farm Asks for Higher Rates in Florida

June 29, 2012

State Farm Insurance, the third-largest property insurer in the state of Florida, has asked for an average statewide increase of 14.9% on insured homes there, as part of a plan to maintain a good fiscal status while restructuring the discounts and deductibles it currently offers.

According to State Farm’s representatives, the rate request includes average increases of 14.2 percent for homeowners, 27.3 percent for condo owners, and a whopping 48.8 percent for renters.

They say these increases are needed because their reserves for paying claims fell to $368 million last year, when it also had a four percent underwriting loss.

If approved, this will be the seventh homeowners insurance rate-hike the insurer has made in Florida in the past two years, the last major increase being 19% in April, 2011.