Florida insurance update

You remember in January, when the Florida Legislature was debating that big package of insurance reforms? At the time, many said the state's "insurance crisis" -- rapidly rising homeowners rates -- was actually a reinsurance crisis. In other words, the high price reinsurers were charging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina was supposed to be the biggest factor. So the state went into the reinsurance business and promised rate reductions of 24 percent or more. Not only have rates not declined much, insurers are now asking for rate increases. And the state's reinsurance isn't selling with some insurance companies, in part because companies don't actually believe the money will be there in the fund. I thought it worth passing along this excerpt from a recent editorial in a