Fraud and Litigation Push Florida’s Home Insurers Into Insolvency
- State’s underwriter of last resort facing influx of policies
- Five firms yet to file results could be in financial distress
The roof was blown off an apartment building in Perdido Key, Florida, when Hurricane Sally passed through the area in Sept. 2020.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Insurers protecting Florida’s homeowners are going under. And it’s not the state’s infamous storms dragging the firms down -- it’s a deluge of lawsuits and fraud.
More companies may follow the two insurers declared insolvent in recent weeks, Tampa, Florida-based Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Co. and St. Johns Insurance Co., based in Orlando, Florida. And lawmakers failed to pass a bill that could offer a potential remedy before the state’s legislative session wrapped up earlier this month.