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Florida Hurricane Insurance
01/13/09 - 03:30 PM
Associated Press
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click for larger image Tallahassee, Fla:

The state’s insurance commissioner is offering assurances about the solvency of small companies offering homeowner coverage for hurricanes and other perils.

Commissioner Kevin McCarty told Gov. Charlie Crist and the state Cabinet that he’s not concerned about the solvency of the companies “at this juncture.”

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said she was “much more confident” after hearing McCarty’s report.

As national companies have backed away from Florida, the state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp. became the state’s largest homeowners’ insurer with just more than 1 million customers.

Citizens, envisioned as an insurer of last resort, has been attempting to move policies to some of the smaller companies, which typically offer lower rates. Many Citizens policyholders are being sent letters advising them they are being spun off, but customers can opt to stay with Citizens by returning signed forms.

McCarty said 400,000 policies have come out of Citizens since its peak.

Sink later said she would still advise consumers to check out the smaller companies, many of them new to Florida, before signing up for policies. She had asked for McCarty’s report in response to questions from the public.
   
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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