BestWeek: Best’s Ranking Shows Florida Leads Nation in Homeowners Premium
OLDWICK, N.J. //BestWire// - Florida is third among states when ranked by total population but generated $12.4 billion of homeowners direct premium in 2021, the most of any U.S. state, according to a new Best’s Ranking report in the latest BestWeek.
That’s more than California, the most populous state, with $11.2 billion of homeowners direct premium, and second-most-populous Texas, with $11.9 billion, according to BestLink. Florida’s storm-prone location and challenging litigation environment keeps it prominent among U.S. states for losses and cost of homeowners insurance.
Total direct premium for homeowners carriers in Florida continues to grow, rising 11.7% from 2020 to 2021. Florida’s rise was the fourth-largest one-year percentage increase in 2021, behind California and fast-growing Idaho and Montana. Direct premium for homeowners carriers, total United States, reached $119.7 billion in 2021, an 8.4% rise from 2020.
Also featured in this week’s BestWeek:
— Direct losses and loss adjustment expenses arising from Hurricane Ian are going up for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in Florida and the National Flood Insurance Program.
Citizens said losses and loss adjustment expenses are now estimated to total $3.8 billion from Ian, which crashed into southwest Florida Sept. 28 as a Category 4 hurricane. That represents a significant jump over a preliminary estimate of $2.3 billion-$2.6 billion, which was based on a single model, it said in a statement.
— Insurers are applauding the U.K. Treasury’s plan to reform the prudential regulatory regime for the insurance and long-term savings sector, saying it will allow carriers to free up tens of billions of pounds for investing.
The plan was released in a response to the consultation the government called for in a review of Solvency II announced in April. The government said the new plan would meet its objectives of spurring “vibrant, innovative” growth, protecting insureds by ensuring safe and sound firms and supporting insurers to provide long-term capital to support growth.
BestWeek is produced by AM Best for insurance professionals. To subscribe, visit www.ambest.com.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.
(By Rick Cornejo, managing editor, BestWire: Rick.Cornejo@ambest.com)