It was a sinking feeling the moment Bradenton resident Ira Kasdan got the letter last month that he was being dropped by Progressive Insurance.
DROPPED BY PROGRESSIVE
“Dear Policyholder, your policy will expire at 12:01 on July 1st , 2024, for the following reasons. After careful consideration we are unable to offer you a renewal policy due to a reduction in our hurricane exposure. Please contact your agent to find replacement coverage,” the letter read.
Last fall Progressive confirmed to ABC Action News that they will not renew policies in Florida beginning in May of 2024 to “rebalance our exposure” they told us in a statement.
“I was shocked, I was stunned,” Kasdan said. “There may be a time where as much as we love Florida we may not be able to stay here.”
DIFFICULT FINDING A NEW INSURANCE COMPANY
As a retiree on social security, his fears don’t stop there. He said finding information on potential new companies is not easy. He emailed ABC Action News for help.
“These are no-name carriers, companies you have never heard of. Or they have been around 2 to 7 years and in some cases, they seem to be off-shoots of bankrupt carrier or carriers who left the state,” Kasdan said. “I’m afraid we spend a lot of money to buy coverage and all we have is a promise of coverage that might not be any good if we need it.”
He sent a list of things he’d like to see on a centralized website, urging the state to put together a one-stop shop online tool to help consumers shopping for new coverage.
“I really wish the state would be proactive,” he said. “Put up a website with metrics of all the carrier’s doing business in the state: How long have you done business? How many homeowners do they insure? What is the percentage of claims being paid? How long did it take you to pay them?”
SOME INFORMATION IS NOT MADE PUBLIC
ABC Action News spoke with the Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis’ office who offered a long list of resources available to consumers, but data this detailed and broken down by company is not available for the public a spokesperson said, citing much of the information is trade secrets, propriety to the insurance companies to keep the property insurance market competitive.
“The idea that customer satisfaction ratings are a trade secret sounds like baloney,” Kasdan said. “The information on how these new carriers handle claims and how happy or unhappy the customers are shouldn’t be a secret. That is what people need to be able to decide which company they want to do business with.”
Mark Friedlander with the Insurance Information Institute said there is no one-stop shop for consumers looking for a new insurance company.
“It’s not to hide information from consumers, it’s to hide information from competitors. It’s very common,” Friedlander said. “The consumers insurance agent needs to be the advocate in this process.”
Friedlander recommended consumers use third-party sites that independently rate insurance companies. He provided a list for consumers to start.