Florida’s insurance commissioner in early August noted that rate increases by property-casualty insurers in the state have slowed significantly since 2023 legislative reforms were enacted, with 12 carriers asking for a small decrease this year and another two dozen filing for a zero rate increase.
RLI Insurance, a specialty insurer serving niche markets, does not appear to be following that trend. The Illinois-based carrier, licensed in Florida since 1975, will raise rates on personal umbrella policies, including uninsured motorists’ coverage, by an average of 16%, starting Sept. 1, a use-and-file rate filing with OIR shows.
More than 57,000 policies may be affected.
The increase is on top of a 24% increase that was approved and took effect in January, which means that new or renewal policies with a start date after September will see both increases, the RLI administrator for Florida, Charlie Hampton, said in a Florida Association of Insurance Agents’ blog post this week.
“I’m sure they (agents) wont love it but they will understand in this market,” she said in an email Friday.
RLI also was approved for a 13.8% increase in June 2023.
Officials with the publicly traded RLI could not be reached for comment Friday morning.
The company, which began as a contact-lens insurer in 1965, has continued its profitability in recent years. RLI’s second-quarter earnings report shows almost $82 million in net income, up slightly from Q2 2023. Its combined ratio, a measure of profitability, stood at a startlingly low 81.5, a slight improvement over the previous year and far below the industry average.
RLI’s stock price last week and this week rose to an all-time high of $154 per share, Investing.com and Yahoo!Finance reported.
While Florida regulators have touted recent rate moderation, RLI is not alone in filing for double-digit increases this year as the Florida market recovers from what insurers have called extreme litigation costs — before new statutes took effect in 2022 and 2023.
Other carriers include People’s Trust Insurance, which has requested a 14.8% increase on dwelling fire policies; First Protective Insurance, which has asked for a 14.7% increase on homeowners; and Cypress Property & Casualty Insurance, which was approved for an 18.7% hike on homeowners policies. Citizens Property Insurance Corp. also has requested a 14% average rate increase, the maximum allowed by the corporation’s statutory glide path.
So, it’s not certain that RLI’s latest filing will be approved. At a rate hearing in June, OIR officials repeatedly grilled a People’s Trust executive over the company’s HO rate increase, coming on the heels of another increase in 2023, Lisa Miller & Associates has reported.
Topics Florida Pricing Trends
