Allstate’s Castle Key Insurance Co. wants home insurance
bills to rise 33.9 percent for Palm Beach County
customers, slightly above a statewide average of 32.4
percent, records filed for a hearing today show.
Regulators will hear discussion of the rate requests
today at a hearing in Tallahassee and rule on them in
coming weeks. State insurance consumer advocate Robin
Wescott as well as company officials are scheduled to
speak.
“The
rates filed reflect Castle Key’s desire to preserve its
financial ability to serve Florida customers over the
long term, and stabilize and rebuild the company’s
reserves,” company spokeswoman Cathy Mayo said.
The
average premium in the county would rise by a third to
$1,421 for Castle Key Insurance and by 23.5 percent to
$1,049 for sister firm Castle Key Indemnity Co.,
according to records provided by the state’s Office of
Insurance Regulation.
Allstate’s Castle Key units have been shedding customers
in recent years but, combined, still rank No. 6 in
market share in Palm Beach County with more than 14,000
customers. The company lost about 550 customers in the
county during the first quarter of 2012, a state
database shows.
Statewide, the combined Allstate units held the No. 4
market share with more than 250,000 customers at the end
of the first quarter. The company says that number is
under 240,000 now. State-run insurer Citizens ranks No.
1 with 1.4 million policies, followed by Universal
Property & Casualty with 567,000 and State Farm with
466,797.
Castle
Key is writing policies across Florida on “a very
limited basis,” Mayo said. Castle Key customers can get
coverage for their new home if they move within Florida
or from another state, providing they meet guidelines,
she said.
The
company is “focused on serving existing customers and
managing the current risk in order to better preserve
their financial stability for the long term,” she said.