Crist takes aim at insurers to solve insurance crisis, state lawmaker fears it would backfire

Democratic nominee for governor Charlie Crist said he’ll hold insurance companies accountable for rate hikes if he’s elected as a way of solving the state’s property insurance crisis, during a campaign stop in Jacksonville on Wednesday.

At least one Florida legislator who has been deeply involved in the crisis for years worries Crist’s plan would make the problem worse.

Congressman Charlie Crist touted his record on property insurance, highlighting his ability to lower insurance rates by 10% during his term as Florida governor.

He called his opponent, Ron DeSantis, the worst governor on property insurance Florida has ever had.

“Floridians are paying double what they were paying four years ago,” said Crist.

Crist attacked DeSantis for allowing Citizens, the state’s insurer of last resort, to implement larger rate hikes.

Crist said if he’s elected, he would work to make Citizens more affordable and go after insurance companies that seek excessive rate hikes.

“Business needs to make a profit. I get that, but we can’t (let) them gouge our fellow citizens in the process and double their rates in just a four-year period,” said Crist.

Five Florida insurance companies have gone belly-up just this year alone and more than a dozen more are at risk of failure.

State Sen. Jeff Brandes, who has worked on the property insurance issue for years in the Florida Legislature, argued Crist’s plan would drive even more insurers out of the market.

“The simple truth is every insurance company in Florida is struggling, and you don’t lose five companies in a year and then beat the companies harder and expect to get more companies to come into Florida,” said Brandes.

Instead, Brandes argued the problem leading to higher rates is rampant litigation.

He said Florida makes up only 8% of the nation’s insurance claims, but 80% of the nation’s property insurance lawsuits.

“We’re in a radically different place than when Charlie Crist was governor. The solutions have to be more market-driven and frankly, we’ve got to focus on the things that push back against litigation,” said Brandes.

When we asked Crist how he plans to deal with the litigation issue, he pointed the finger back at insurers.

“Well, what I think we need to do is have insurance companies that pay what they owe to the customers, otherwise they wouldn’t be in court in the first place,” said Crist.

We reached out to DeSantis’ campaign for comments on this story but did not get any response at this time.

On DeSantis’ campaign website, he doesn’t specifically lay out a plan for dealing with property insurance, but he has stated on multiple occasions he believes lawmakers will work to address the issue in the next legislative session.

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