State Farm to rise insurance premiums in Florida

State Farm Florida Insurance Company is asking the Florida government to rise insurance premiums by 58.8%. And the automotive division of the company being State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is asking for a 71.5% hike.

State Farm is the largest private US property and casualty insurance carrier and it is also the biggest one in Florida. The proposed increases are very significan and met with some public resistance but these are to be necessarey to cover much higher insurance claims then in the rest of the country - should the recent high frequency and intensity of hurricanes to continue in the region.

As high as these proposed rates are, these vary by the particular Florida region. For example State Farm is asking for a 117.7 rates hike for mobile homes in the Palm Beach area.

And State Farm is not alone in this trend - some Florida insurers asked for average rate hikes up to 92%.

Also Florida Insurance Comissioner Kevin McCarty said last week that he was 'deeply concerned' about these developments.

Meantime Allstate Corporation being currently the second largest home insurer in the US is seeking to close its Florida operations.