New
Policy Expected To Ease Insurance Cost It won't be much, but Florida
homeowners -- especially those in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties -- soon
will see a dip in their skyrocketing homeowners insurance costs.
New policies
announced Thursday allow insurance companies to charge higher deductibles for
sinkhole coverage. Backers say the changes will make coverage more affordable
and eliminate fraudulent claims if people have to pay more money out of pocket
to claim their home sits on a sinkhole.
The savings will apply to the sinkhole coverage portion of a homeowner's
insurance policy; in some cases, that can amount to as much as 14.4 percent.
The
effect will be most significant in the Suncoast area -- especially sinkhole-riddled
Pasco County, said Bob Lotane , a spokesman for the state Office of Insurance
Regulation.
This year, state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and state
Rep. John Legg, R-New Port Richey, pushed through legislation requiring the state
to re-evaluate how companies assess rates, especially in regard to sinkholes.
The
policy change announced Thursday came out of those bills.
"I don't
want people to believe they're going to see hundreds of thousands of dollars in
reduction, but what they will see is a small reduction," Fasano said. "In
the future, they will see more reductions down the road."
