Crist signs sweeping insurance measure
ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 27, 2009
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist has signed legislation that boosts property insurance rates by 10 percent on more than 1 million customers of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Crist signed the bill today. Supporters of the legislation (HB 1495) say Citizens customers would have been looking at rate increases between 40 percent and 55 percent on Jan. 1 if lawmakers didn’t produce legislation for 10 percent increases spread over several years.
The bill also reduces the state’s $20 billion exposure on the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund by phasing out the upper levels of a state backup pool by $2 billion a year over a six-year period.
The bill was passed by the Legislature on May 1.