Businesses in Florida will pay an average of 15.1% less in workers compensation insurance rates starting Jan. 1, 2024.
This is about the only good news for Floridian business owners with regards to commercial premiums being decreased. We have seen on average double digit rate increases across Auto and Umbrella lines of coverage over the last 12 months. Out of town contractors working on storm cleanup are causing increased traffic incident rates coupled with an increasing amount of new residents moving to Southwest Florida from other states. Our infrastructure here can barely support the amount of vehicles we have on the road. This area has an older than average population of unsafe drivers on the road which creates an unfavorable environment for insurance companies.
Rate increases for property re-insurance in Florida have averaged 25% – 30% this last quarter. This means for commercial property insurers the base cost of their insurance has risen this much due to mounting claim costs from natural disasters. Property owners are having trouble finding options outside of Citizens to insure their properties and the premiums have in some cases been tripled year over year. We still have not seen a leveling of property insurance rate increases over the last 24 months.
