Before eight major storms hit Florida during the hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, commercial coverage was widely available for business owners and rates were relatively low.  By the summer of 2006 the commercial insurance market was in a crisis, with escalating rates and policies offering very limited coverage.  Many insurers refused to write new policies, and some were even canceling policies.  The market has recently shown some improvement.  Agents and brokers report that commercial rates have declined 20 percent to 30 percent over the last year and that insurers are now competing for the first time in two years.  Fausto Alvarez, a partner at HBA Insurance Group of Miami, says that insurers had a profitable underwriting year in 2007 and some companies are lowering rates.  One of the most significant factors improving the market is a decline in the cost of reinsurance.  Jim Massie with the Reinsurance Association of America in Tallahassee said that currently supply is exceeding demand for the first time in a number of years.

Commercial Insurance is Back From the Brink (Miami Herald 3/24/08)

April 1, 2008