Fla. gov to veto any bill hiking insurance rates

By BRENT KALLESTAD

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist reinforced his message Wednesday to lawmakers considering legislation that would allow insurance companies to boost property insurance premiums on home and business owners.

His advice: Don't do it.

"This is the last time that people need to have property insurance go up," Crist warned. "If there is any legislation that comes to my desk that would do that I will veto it and happily do so."

Crist said he didn't think legislators would attempt to overturn it.

"I can't imagine how many members of the House and Senate would want to override a veto that reduces property insurance," he said. "They would do so at their own peril."

The Republican governor, who is leaving that office to seek his party's nomination for the U.S. Senate in August, has been fighting members of his own party on the issue the past two years.

Just last week, former Gov. Jeb Bush weighed in, noting that the failure of several undercapitalized insurers could bankrupt the state and that the private insurance market should be bolstered.

Crist made an unusual appearance in a Senate committee last month to oppose legislation proposed by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, that would let property insurers offer unregulated rates to homeowners.

Crist vetoed a similar bill last year that would have given homeowners a choice to pay higher, unregulated rates for insurance covering hurricanes, fires and other hazards from well-funded national companies.

Florida residents with auto, residential property or commercial property insurance policies are already paying a 1 percent assessment to shore up the Hurricane Catastrophe Fund tagged with huge losses after the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. They would be liable for much higher assessments if the CAT fund and the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. were unable to pay claims.

Citizens was created by the Legislature in 2002 as a safety net to offer property coverage to homeowners without private insurance options, although not necessarily at cheaper rates.