This will affect Fort Lauderdale &  S. Florida and since we are in La Nina years, which is also very likely to occur for the next 3-5 years. Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for free quotes on Home Insurance, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Business & Commercial policies and Life & Financial products as well.

Ratings company Demotech is holding off on issuing large-scale ratings downgrades of Florida property insurers for now, after a number of insurers heeded its warning of last month about the effects of assignment of benefits abuse and state court rulings by boosting their claims reserves and policyholder surplus.

After warning in February that at least 10 to 15 Florida property/casualty carriers would face downgrades if they did not take immediate action to shore up their reserves in light of deteriorating conditions in the state, Demotech said March 16 that, after working with insurers to make adjustments, it slightly downgraded only one carrier

The ratings firm said it is also monitoring three insurers — Prepared, Mount Beacon and Elements— that have been or are in the process of being sold as a result of the situation in Florida.

Joseph Petrelli, president and CEO of Ohio-based Demotech, which rates 57 carriers in Florida and 397 nationwide, said his company worked individually with companies in Florida to analyze their financial standing, strengthen their claims reserves, and provide other guidance on what they could do to avoid a ratings downgrade. The result has been $355 million in additional reserves and policyholder surplus among the Florida carriers it rates, Petrelli said.

Demotech said last month that Florida’s property insurers are facing an “uncertain operating environment” as a result of the escalating AOB crisis that has caused the number of litigated water loss claims to skyrocket over the past few years, particularly for the state-run insurer Citizens.

Please enjoy the full article below;

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2017/03/17/444778.htm

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