Skyrocketing rates have sent many property owners to choose to skip policies altogether
A recently released report has underscored the continuation and growth of a trend in Florida in which home insurance customers have chosen not to pursue coverage anymore due to sharp increases in the premiums they would need to pay in order to keep up their policies.
The trend among insurance customers started to take off following Hurricane Ian
For many property owners in the state, the premiums they are required to pay to remain insurance customers have doubled or even tripled since before Hurricane Ian.
The report on the trends regarding coverage in the state was released by the Consumer Federation of America was particularly concerning as it showed that many homeowners in the state are no longer covered at all and are now stepping up to a potentially active hurricane season, which is slated to start in June and run through November.
The findings in the report showed that individuals are often deciding to self-insure, navigating the risks independently.
The trend is worrying as the risks in the state also rise
The report suggests that across the United States, 1 in 13 people are uninsured. This indicates that in the country, there are about 6.1 million homes without any coverage.
In Florida, the number of insurance customers who are dropping their coverage is on the rise, meaning that the percentage of that countrywide number represented by residents of Florida may be on the increase.
After all, the number of properties with dropped coverage isn’t small, In fact, Miami – where the trend is the highest – has an uninsurance rate for its properties at 15 percent, according to the report. Other parts of Southwest Florida have similar figures. This is being blamed on a combination of real estate costs and high rates.
Highlighting disparities
As is often the case, homeowners who are visible minorities are the most heavily impacted by this trend, as are those living in manufactured homes, where 35 percent have ceased being insurance customers. Moreover, families with a household income under $50,000 per year and whose homes are less expensive are more likely to forego coverage.