Denied 47% rate hike, State Farm to pull out
January 28, 2009
State Farm Insurance Co. said yesterday that it would leave the Florida property insurance market within two years because it cannot raise premiums high enough to offset the hurricane risks.

The privately held company has been battling state insurance regulators for more than a year over proposed rate hikes that State Farm said it needed in Florida's hurricane-rattled property and casualty market.

State Farm serves 1.2 million policy holders in Florida, where it is the second-largest property insurer. The figure includes 703,000 homeowner policies in the state. Automobile policyholders would not be affected.

On Jan. 12, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty upheld an administrative law judge's finding denying State Farm a 47 per cent rate hike.

State Farm plans to drop all lines of property and casualty insurance.

Found this article online thought I would pass it on in case some people haven't heard.----------------------Laureen Quinlan