Democratic candidate for governor
Hurricane Ian exposed instability in the state’s home insurance market; six
A Crist campaign ad contrasts the rates under DeSantis with what happened after Crist became governor 15 years ago.
“He let home insurance rates skyrocket and he raised taxes on Floridians in
PolitiFact assessed a similar claim by Crist about
In this fact check, we’ll look at Crist’s claims about property insurance, something he’s mentioned before.
Christ was
The raw numbers supported his claim of a 10% drop in home insurance rates when Crist was governor, but they don’t tell the full story of its lasting impact on property insurance.
Why insurance premiums fell 10% in 2010
Eight hurricanes passed through
Crist, then a Republican, campaigned on a promise to help consumers and their wallets. After taking office, he asked the state legislature to hold a special session on property insurance.
Lawmakers passed HB 1A with bipartisan support, and Crist signed it into law in
Across the state, insurance premiums from citizens and private insurers have fallen by an annual average of
“Typically, there is an 18 to 24 month cycle before we see the impacts of insurance reform legislation in
Thus, this decrease observed in 2008 is more likely the result of changes made before Crist took office. (Still, there was a 10% drop from 2007 to 2010 – Crist’s first and last full year as governor.)
A
Windstorm mitigation credits, which date back to 1993, are rebates given to homeowners who invest in modifications that increase their home’s resistance to storm damage.
However, some insurers offset their costs by charging consumers other fees and it was not until 2006 that the
The average home insurance premium fell by 3% between 2008 and 2009. But the drop in rates was short-lived. Private insurers said they couldn’t compete with citizens’ frozen rates, according to a report by the
Citizens increased by approximately 400,000 additional policies between 2004 and 2007, for a total of 1.2 million properties covered in 2010.
Fortunately for Floridians and the insurance market under Crist, there were no major hurricanes during Crist’s tenure. If there had been, the citizens would probably have been unable to cover the claims, the
In 2009, Crist signed HB 1495 to end the rate freeze and allow citizens to increase home insurance premiums; the law capped rate increases at 10% until Citizens became actuarially sound or consistent with the pricing practices of private insurers.
Insurance rates under DeSantis
“Almost all of the reforms that came into effect in 2007 that insurers didn’t like have either been repealed or not enforced,” said
However, a report from
Experts say DeSantis did not cause
“It’s hard to say we don’t have a stronger insurance market because of something DeSantis did,” said
Although DeSantis asked the Legislature to hold a special session on property insurance in April, the laws passed during the three-day session did not guarantee that consumers would receive premium relief.
Friedlander, of
Our decision
Crist said he “cut insurance rates by 10%.”
In 2007, Crist signed a law that froze the rates of Citizens, the public insurer. Home insurance rates first fell and then rose, leaving an overall reduction of 10% by the time Crist left office.
Experts were hesitant to give Crist all the credit for the reduction, saying much of the credit was due to revisions to
It should also be remembered that no major hurricane has hit
Crist’s actions appear to be partly responsible for the 10% drop, although he likely attributed too much of an impact to his policies. With this clarification, we rate the claim largely true.