Home insurance high on Florida stress list - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

<p>Rising property insurance rates could be a growing political liability for Florida lawmakers, with a new survey indicating home insurance now significantly outweighs property taxes as a financial concern for state residents.</p><p>The annual Leadership Florida survey released this week found that 46 percent of Floridians say property insurance "puts a greater stress on my personal finances" than property taxes, compared with 24 percent who say the opposite is true and 22 percent who were not sure or not affected by the issue.</p><p>That is a much greater spread than 2008, when 36 percent of Floridians said property insurance costs were more of a concern and 31 percent cited property taxes.</p><p>The number of Floridians citing insurance as a greater burden than taxes has increased in every Leadership Florida survey since 2008, leading University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus to conclude that "the issue is bubbling up and it's not going away."</p><p>"The common perception is that the government and insurance companies are in bed with each other to the detriment of the public," MacManus said. "People think there's no real interest in the pressure this is putting on the public's pocketbook."</p><p>While property taxes dipped along with property values in the recession, property insurance costs have continued to rise. Many insurers requested double-digit rate increases this year.</p><p>One Allstate affiliate asked regulators to boost rates by 33 percent while Florida's largest property insurance company, state-run Citizens Property Insurance, received approval this month for a 10.8 percent average statewide rate increase.</p><p>Florida homeowners often pay more for property insurance now than they pay in annual property taxes, yet Florida lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott have continued to push for property tax breaks while simultaneously working to increase Citizens' rates, which also affect those set by the private market.</p><p>Scott and other top state leaders argue Citizens' rates are too low and the company unfairly undercuts private insurers. They want to push more customers into the private market.</p><p>But MacManus said most homeowners are more concerned about rates.</p><p>"People don't really care where they get insurance from," she said.</p><p>Leadership Florida is a nonpartisan organization that seeks to build more civic engagement statewide by cultivating potential leaders from a variety of backgrounds.</p>