City of Pensacola Florida

Crist urges jilted homeowners to shop for insurer

Gov. Charlie Crist said legislators will need to do more work to reduce property insurance rates and increase insurance availability to homeowners, beyond what they did during the special session in January.

The comments were in response to news that State Farm Florida Insurance Co. will drop 50,000 property insurance policies along the coast.

The governor’s advice: Anyone being dropped should shop around, using the state’s new insurance Web site (www.shopandcomparerates.com), to find other insurers writing coverage in their area, she said.

At the same time Isaac was making her comments, a controversy was brewing in Tallahassee over whether insurers were passing along reduced rates to consumers as mandated by the legislature in January.

Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said he planned to reject Florida Farm Bureau’s request to raise homeowner rates by a statewide average of 26.8 percent.