Is the Orlando real estate facing trouble?
by Global Property Guide team
It’s been known that the Orlando real estate is undergoing a phase, now that the government of Florida has issued a new insurance law that will take effect beginning the second half of year 2007.
Yahoo Finance reports that “The new law gives a state-created insurer wider latitude to compete with private insurers like Allstate Corp. and State Farm Insurance Cos. in selling homeowners insurance.”
Correspondents from Sun Sentinel state that “The new Florida law allows Citizens Property, whose board is appointed by state officials, to have rates that are lower than those of private carriers, under some circumstances. Previously, Citizens was required to keep its rates as high or higher than the private market. The state’s separate hurricane fund could end up taking on a larger role in catastrophe reinsurance. The U.S. market for property catastrophe reinsurance is estimated at $70 billion to $80 billion, according to the Reinsurance Association of America, and the hurricane fund’s reinsurance capacity was increased to as much as $35 billion.”
There were exceptions to the rule, of course. Just recently, it has been reported that “the Florida Insurance Council is dropping its court challenge to an emergency order that temporarily stops property insurers from dropping policies or raising premiums before provisions in Florida’s new insurance law take effect June 1.
The council acted after Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty ruled that insurance companies could proceed with plans not to renew policies for customers who had already been notified they were being dropped. Companies also can resume cancellation of policies when they file their new rates in March, as long as policyholders get 100 days’ notice.”
Consider this as a turning point for agencies and brokerage companies doing business in Orlando real estate. We would like to echo what the correspondents have demanded: Who really should have the back of Americans when disaster strikes?
via: Orlando Sentinel
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