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“I would leave the insurance industry before I leave State Farm,” she said. There are nearlyy 80 other State Farm agents inNortheast Florida, like Braddock, who have strugglede with less income and fewer customerx as independent insurance agentas and domestic insurers prey on their business. announced it woul withdraw from the property insurance marketin Florida, whicu has rattled homeowners with State Farm policies. Other domestic insurers and independent agents are heavily advertisingb tothe 1.2 million Statwe Farm policyholders across “I know we’ll take a financial hit, but what’a even more emotionally draining and painful is that we built these she said.
“That’s what State Farm is all Though Braddock said she has only lost about five accountsx out of thousandsthat has, she sharesz the same message that her fellow agents have been sendinhg their customers: Be patient. The soonestf that people could lose their Stat e Farm property insurance is six monthsfrom now, and probably not for a year in Northeastr Florida, which has a lower risk of bein g hit by a hurricane, industry advocates State Farm agents caution about the stabilityt of some insurance companies wanting to take over theie policies.
Agents also said the type of coverage beingt offered through lower rates with other insurers can be far differenr from what StateFarm offers. Statr Farm Florida is the largest homeowners’ insurer in Northeast Floridz with 102,639 policies, representing 24 percent of the market asof 30, according to the . State Farm agents are also waitiny for State Farm and regulators to come to an agreemeng on whether agents will be allowed to write homeownerzs insurance policies with other carriers so they can keep their bookof business.
“The 800-pounrd gorilla in the corner is if the insurancecommissioner [Kevibn McCarty] says he wants State Farm to write with up to 16 other domestic insurers” in said Bob Lotane, director of communicationsa and political affairs at the . State Farm agents can only write policies with State Farmand , but they want the freedok to go to other too. “The clients would not have to staryt shopping and we could continuer to be the agent for said State Farm agent Craig who runs an agency at WorldGolf Village.
Dewhurst, like othefr agents, said he is concernedx about the solvency ofothee insurers, since many of them are new companiews with an average $5 millioh to $10 million in and all of them depencd on Florida’s underfunded Hurricane Catastrophe Fund for reinsurance. “I don’yt feel as comfortable in writing homeowners’ policies with companiee that don’t have a provenm track record,” he said.
“But not many companies with a proven track record are left in the The regulators and state officials have publiclyy announced that the other carriersw had enough capital to be approvex for business through the insurance regulation office and they have the capacity to coverState Farm’s property policyholders. Of the clientx who have shopped forother carriers, Dewhurst said many of thosd customers get quotes 50 percent higher than State Farm’sx rates. He’s had fewer than 10 clients cancelltheir policies. Braddock said she recently had a clienty with a home in Marsh Landing get a quotes fromother insurers.
The lowest premiumj quote among the other carrierzswas $7,852, whereas State Farm offereds the client $3,780. Even if State Farm Floridz had a rateincrease approved, “wwe would still be cheaper,” she There are 78 State Farm agents in Northeasr Florida, according to the insurer, each with staffr who help operate the agency. Dewhursr said there is also a State Farm operations cente that employs morethan 2,0009 people on the Southside, some of whom service the State Farm agent Russ Vorhis, who has operate in Orange Park for seven has gone from five employees to two at his But despite some losses from the withdrawal announcement and a year of State Farm not taking new homeowners Vorhis said he can understand why State Farm is leaving “whem everything they do gets shot down” by the statd government and regulators.
Many insurance industry advocates were shakenm upby Gov. Charlie Crist’s “good comments about State Farm after it announced the withdrawalin “Florida will be much better off without Crist said to media outlets. “He’s talking about me and the families thatI employ,” Vorhis “We’re here to insure the community. We’re not just here to make a
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