TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) today issued Orders to insurance companies terminating a 1.3% assessment on most property insurance policies that has been used to pay off past hurricane claims. The assessment will be eliminated on policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2015 – 18 months ahead of schedule, due to an early payoff of the bonds used to pay the claims.
The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (Cat Fund) emergency assessment applied to all premiums on property and casualty insurance policies in Florida, including surplus lines, but excluded those lines specifically exempted by law. The charge began at 1% in 2007 and was increased to 1.3% in 2011. The $2.9 billion collected through May 31, 2014 was used to reimburse insurance companies for claims from the series of eight hurricanes that hit Florida in 2004 and 2005.
The Cat Fund currently has $12.95 billion available, which is made up of…
Entire Press Release: .pdf | Florida Office of Insurance Regulation