Amid rising prices and sticker-shock across all sectors, most notably grocery and gas, and the upcoming election, property insurance rates are another fee Floridians say is burning holes in their pockets and pocketbooks. And now there’s proof.

Democratic nominee for Florida Attorney General José Javier Rodríguez and Democratic nominee for Chief Financial Officer Annette Taddeo joined an insurance expert and a Florida homeowner for a virtual press conference to discuss a long-hidden state-commissioned report examining Florida property insurers and their companies.

Rodriguez served as the Florida State Senator for District 37 between 2016 and 2020, which consists parts of Miami-Dade County.

“One of the things in this report, which is in the public domain now, is it talks about something that many of us who served in the legislature know very well, that a lot of advocates know very well, and that many even policy holders understand the games that are played when it comes to rate setting in Tallahassee, and the lies that we are consistently told,” Rodriguez said.

The report found that while insurers reported hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, affiliated companies generated more than $1 billion in net income. In total, 57 companies either individually or as part of a group of insurers were examined.

While the report was kept from the public and completed in 2022 as Florida homeowners faced skyrocketing insurance costs, both Rodriguez and Taddeo said they knew this behavior was going on behind closed doors.

“In other states, including red states, attorneys general have held insurers accountable and even regulators accountable for these kind of practices,” Rodriguez said. “Insurers, for deceptive or fraudulent practices related to squeezing policy holders by hiding assets in similar ways to what this report describes, and have been able to fight for rollbacks in insurance rates. That’s what I would fight for as attorney general.”

According to the Threat of Climate Change to the U.S. Insurance Industry report by Coalition for an Insurable Future and Mandala Partners, homeowners insurance rates across the country increased an average of 38% since 2021. In Florida, however, premiums increased 75% during the same period. Currently, Taddeo said it’s costing the average Florida homeowner $8,000 annually.

At the same time, because rates have increased so much, insurance providers once offering property policies throughout the state have since discontinued them, citing loss of profits and risk for bankruptcy even though the report depicts more than $1 billion in profits have gone to affiliated companies.

But aside from high rates, increases, and fewer providers offering plans, Rodriguez said there’s something else he advocates for that he said has been neglected by the current administration.

“We’re not just talking about fair and reasonable rate setting here, we’re also talking about transparency,” Rodriguez said.

He said transparency is healthy for not only the market, but also consumers in what he calls a regulated industry.

“The fact that the press is being threatened to protect the alleged trade secrets of these companies that are bilking policy holders, is horrendous and frightening,” Rodriguez said.

The Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel published the previously undisclosed report after the Florida Senate demanded that the newspapers destroy their copies.

He said safeguarding Sunshine Laws would also be top of mind when it comes to transparency.

Taddeo said that she feels a report card system would be the best fix.

“As a regulator of the insurance industry, we better put stuff out,” Taddeo said. “And let me tell you, one of the things that I am going to do when I get there is we are going to have not just a report card, but a report card that actually tells you which companies are answering the phone, which companies are taking a long time to deal with your claim, which companies are giving you the runaround. And which companies are putting money into these affiliate companies and hiding their profits and then claiming to be broke.”

Both Rodriguez and Taddeo said they feel this is the way to actually bring costs down.

“Because they continue to bring it up by lying to homeowners and lying to Floridians, and what’s worse, the people that elected to represent Floridians, you’d think they’re there elected to represent the insurance companies cause that’s what they’ve been doing, hiding all this for them and even threatening the media for putting out the information that should be out in the first place,” Taddeo said.

Currently, James Uthmeier is the Florida Attorney General and Blaise Ingoglia is the state’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Uthmeier’s term is set to expire Jan. 2, 2027, while Ingoglia’s term is set to expire Jan. 5, 2027.

Uthmeier has defended the efforts made by his office to combat rising property insurance costs and fraud with his most recent attempt this month suing Naples-based Evolve Construction after alleging the company went door to door after Hurricane Ian deceiving residents with damage, and even causing more damage by providing incomplete work, calling it “unconscionable acts or practices.”

He also added that more than 60% of the complaints filed to his office came from seniors.

Both gubernatorial candidates for the upcoming election have plans for decreasing property insurance premiums.

Byron Donalds, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, and his platform call for continued efforts to cut down excessive rates while increasing transparency with a “scorecard” system, most notably via his “Bring Down the Bill” plan, advocating for market-based solutions and increased competition.

David Jolly, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, proposes the creation of a state-backed catastrophe fund to remove hurricane and wind risk from private insurance consumers. He estimates this will lower homeowner rates by 60% to 70%, leaving private insurers to cover non-wind losses such as fire, theft, or certain water damage.

The general election is slated for Nov. 3.

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