Property insurer bankruptcies have left thousands of Florida homeowners scrambling to get new coverage.
Photographer: Marco Bello/BloombergFlorida’s Home Insurance Industry May Be Worse Than Anyone Realizes
A rash of failures of A-rated insurers points to a hidden weakness in the market, researchers say.
Seven property insurers in Florida went bankrupt in 2021 and 2022. The bankruptcies left thousands of homeowners scrambling to get new coverage, which often came with a big increase in cost. Worse, many had outstanding claims for hurricane damage that had not been addressed.
Jacqueline Ravelo, a Miami homeowner, was among them. Her roof was damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017. Her insurance company, Avatar Property and Casualty, covered the cost of some repairs. But the roof continued to leak and mold grew inside the house, she said. Ravelo sued Avatar to compensate her for further repairs, which she said came to $50,000. When they were on the verge of settling, she said, the company went out of business.