Florida Insurers Sent Billions to Affiliates While Claiming Losses: Report

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Newsweek

Published Feb 23, 2025 at 4:58 PM EST


As Florida homeowners recover from years of skyrocketing insurance premiums and coverage cuts, a new study report obtained by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times revealed on Saturday that Florida insurers sent billions to affiliates while claiming to be losing money in the wake of hurricanes. Newsweek has reached out to Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation via email for comment on Sunday.

Why It Matters

Insurance has been a major issue in the Sunshine State in recent years, as hurricanes and storms have had a devastating impact. This comes as several major insurers cut coverage across Florida or withdrew from the state entirely in the past few years, citing increasing costs and growing catastrophe exposure. A combination of excessive litigation, widespread claim fraud and the growing risk of more frequent and severe natural disasters contributed to create a perfect storm that plunged the state's property insurance sector into a crisis.

What To Know

According to a 2022 study report, that has never been made public and was released to the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times after a two-year public records request, revealed that Florida's homeowners insurance market companies claimed financial ruin following Hurricanes Irma and Michael.

However, the report suggests those hardships were overstated as their parent companies and affiliates were raking in billions. Between 2017 and 2019, as the state's insurance market began unraveling in the wake of the back-to-back hurricanes, insurers justified steep rate hikes by citing mounting losses due to the storms. The report reveals how insurers paid out $680 million in dividends to shareholders while simultaneously funneling billions to affiliated companies.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/florida-insurers-sent-billions-affiliates-claiming-hurricane-losses-2035039

[Stargazer99]

1. Another example of why capitalism is a FAILURE

[cstanleytech]

2. People are the failure actually.

[cachukis]

3. Yes and no. Individually, threadbare pockets

don't respond well. Collectively, we need to be on a well informing page.
How many will read of this news?

[Stargazer99]

4. Explain that one as captialism requires a lower class to function-it SERIAL failures

for the past 100 years proves it needs to be controlled to keep some of the population from suffering from its effects. Capitalism has been the MAJOR cause of cycles of depression for the last 100 years. I wonder if you do not benefit from capitalism in some form and if you are defending it and that is why your comment. People being the cause of the failure of the system is just a rationalism.

[lonely bird]

7. It is not a failure

It is performing exactly in the manner it should. Its purpose is not to provide jobs or to make anyone’s lives better.

It is, at its essence, a system of private ownership of claims on future growth while offloading risks. Now, small businesses can’t do much of that as small businesses fail at a high rate. Corporations which are legal constructs engage in legislative, regulatory and judicial capture. This is obviously true of large corporations.

All of this means that wealth controls how, when, where and why monies move which is generally up. The reality is that there are no rules that directly state what capitalism is beyond private ownership of future claims and offloading of risks.

No one should be surprised.

[in2herbs]

8. Capitalism cannot exist without slavery. That is why, when this is all over, we should not rebuild our

foundation on capitalism.

[lonely bird]

10. No argument from me

[lostnfound]

14. It is given a free pass for unlimited sins

it’s the only national religion

[Old Crank]

5. DeSantis's cronies

He burried teh report so Floridians wouldn't know just what a crook he and his business friends are.

[bagimin]

12. Under desantis our insurance premium

has gone from $2200 to $5300 with no claims and no storms on the east coast.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. If true, this is one of the biggest rip-off's ever against American consumers.

To accurately price their new rates for their insurance customers, they need to add back in the rate of return these insurers are making, as well as adding back in all payments made to subs.

God, what else are these greedy businesspeople doing, to push up their profits falsely? It sounds like a crime is being committed as they are hiding or using fake charges (the withdrawals) to reduce their profits falsely.

Ever since tRUMP has gotten in, it seems like the business world has exploded in the number of ways to artificially scam customers and pump more profits into their pockets.

[2naSalit]

9. It's a racket.

[travelingthrulife]

11. Same with California. They were crying crocodile tears and cutting people's insurance but

making gobs of money as usual in other parts of the country. Billions of profit. It's good to be an 'insurance' company. Collect billions in premiums and rarely if ever pay out a claim. If you have to pay out a claim then walk away from it.

[mdbl]

13. It's not about insuring people that need help

It's all about Wall Street.