TALLAHASSEE — Deborah Wood’s insurance story is a familiar one in Florida.
After she was fired by an insurer in 2017, her new insurer increased her premiums to the point that she and her husband decided to sell their home in Plantation and move with their daughter in Tallahassee, she told senators Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
Wood testified alongside insurance experts during a Senate Budget Committee hearing about the extent to which climate change was to blame for Florida’s insurance crisis and how what was happening in the state offered a glimpse of what they could face. homeowners across the country.
Senators were told that Floridians pay the highest premiums in the country and that many of the state’s insurance companies are weaker than they appear. They heard that the nation is unprepared if climate change causes more hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.
“This all looks like an insurance market that is collapsing,” the Senate Budget Committee said. President Sheldon Whitehouse, DR.I.
Wednesday’s hearing brought national attention to a major concern of Floridians, who have seen their premiums skyrocket, their insurers abandon them or have had to fight with companies over storm claims.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who sits on the committee, did not attend. A spokesman said that at the same time he was part of a committee that dealt with veterans’ issues.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Wednesday that six homeowners insurance companies have already stopped issuing in his home state, which has been hit by hail and wind storms.
Insurers lost money in Iowa and 17 other states last year, The New York Times reported last month.
“Florida’s experience is a warning of what we may see in the future in other states,” he testified. Rade Musulin, an actuary who was involved in creating the Florida Hurricane Disaster Fund in the 1990s.
Dispute over the causes of the increase in premiums
Whitehouse pointed to climate change as the culprit behind the turmoil in the insurance industry. Last year, he sent a letter to Citizens Property Insurance, run by the state of Florida, asking how he planned to deal with weather-related losses.
But Grassley noted that auto premiums, which are not tied to climate change, have also skyrocketed across the country.
EJ Antoni, researcher at the conservator Heritage Foundation testified that inflation, Black Lives Matter protests and “general lawlessness in American cities” were to blame for rising premiums. The foundation wants to dismantle the federal government’s efforts to combat climate change.
Inflation is widely considered a factor behind rising premiums, as the most expensive homes are the most expensive to insure and rebuild. But Florida’s insurance crisis began in 2017, when the state was hit by its first named hurricane in a decade, and years before the current surge in inflation.
Ishita Sen, a professor at Harvard Business School, told senators that the nation lacks sufficiently detailed data on insurance policies and claims to determine the causes.
Catch up on top news before rush hour
Subscribe to The Times to receive our afternoon newsletter, The Rundown
We’ll break down Tampa Bay’s top environmental, political, business, educational and cultural news every weekday.
You are all registered!
Want more of our free weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let us begin.
Explore all your options
In Florida, lawmakers and the industry have blamed the crisis on fraudulent or excessive litigation, but they had no data to show how much those lawsuits were costing companies.
“Right now we are trying to make policy blindfolded,” Sen said.
Sen also testified about a paper she co-authored showing that Florida’s insurance market was filled with “low-quality” companies that rely on weak financial ratings from a single company.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who does not question the existence of climate change, called the idea that Congress could fix it “a pie in the sky.”
He asked what officials could do about the insurance crisis. The panelists’ response was to build more resistant homes away from the coasts and areas prone to forest fires.
Musulin said local and state officials should also plan for the future.
“If you’re going to build a house that’s supposed to last 75 years, you should think about the climate 75 years from now when you give someone a permit,” Musulin said.
[fifu]
Keynote USA
For the Latest Local News, Follow Keynote USA Local on Twitter.