Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said on Aug. 14 that the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) rates for Florida may be “unfairly discriminatory” and that his office will ask for the actuarial study, including data and models used to determine rates in the state, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for further examination.

McCarty made his comment in a letter to state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, who earlier this month asked the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation for its support in obtaining the NFIP data.

Brandes said Florida properties make up 37 percent of all flood insurance policies in the NFIP, and to date it has yet to be proven that the rates for those policies are anything other than excessive or arbitrary. The lawmaker is also seeking greater access to NFIP loss-history figures to assist private insurers entering the flood insurance market.

We will ask them for the actuarial study including all data and models used. This would be necessary to do a review similar to the review we would perform of a private company filing to make a determination of whether the rates meet the Florida statutory requirements of not excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory.”

Without data and further analysis though, McCarty added, “we can say that the rates are unfairly discriminatory.”

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http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/08/18/378884.htm