Florida Governor Rick Scott dumps insurance rate website for consumers

Governor Rick Scott has dumped a website launched by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007 to help consumers comparison shop for property insurance. Crist unveiled shopandcomparerates.com on the day he signed legislation freezing rates for the state-run Citizens Property Insurance. The site allowed consumers to click on a county to see a representative sample of companies and rates for insuring a typical Florida home with a list of insurers sorted from lowest to highest and links to company information.

Scott took the website down in April for “enhancements and upgrades,” said Lane Wright, a spokesman for the governor. But then the governor decided not to host the site on his server altogether, Wright said.

Go to the website now and you’re directed to Scott’s home page, which today features a photo of the governor with the new education commissioner. Wright said the website will come back online at some point, but it will be maintained by the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation instead of the governor’s office.

“The Governor’s Office has concluded its review, and has informed us they would like OIR to assume ownership of this application,” said JackMcDermott, a spokesman for insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty. “We are in the process of re-launching this application with updated rate information. Although the Governor’s Office will no longer be hosting this application, they do plan to include a link to it on their Florida Has a Right to Know website.”