Citizens Property Insurance Depopulation Committee to Recommend Board Approval of Monroe County Windstorm Study
Dec 13, 2012
At its meeting today, December 13, 2012, the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”) Depopulation Committee (“Committee”) voted to recommend Citizens Board of Governors (“Board”) approval of a $485,000 expenditure to analyze loss exposures in Monroe County under a proposal submitted by the non-profit group Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe (“FIRM”). The Board is scheduled to meet tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
Citizens President and CEO Barry Gilway voiced support for the study at today’s meeting.
“I think this is an issue at some point we need to address,” Mr. Gilway said, noting that he does not necessarily believe reinsurance positions will change in the international or domestic market based on revised modeling.
Board member John Rollins, who is skeptical of the plan, said he believes rates in Monroe County are already too low. He also voiced concern about spending money for a study that focuses on one territory over others.
Heather Carruthers, the founder of FIRM and the Mayor Pro Tem of Monroe County, told the Committee a third-party analysis of wind risk remodeling is essential to establish fair rates that are actuarily sound.
FIRM is a local non-profit group whose mission is to reach residential, commercial and condominium property insurance rates in Monroe County that are neither excessive, discriminatory, or unaffordable.
“We simply want our rates to be commensurate with the actual risk,” Ms. Carruthers told the Committee.
The Windstorm Risk and Remodeling Analysis Initiative would include a vulnerability study, a survey tool and an inspection program. Of concern is the difference in rates and premiums paid in Monroe County that are significantly higher when compared to other coastal communities, she said.
The FIRM proposal is attached in PDF format. To view complete Committee meeting materials, click here.
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