Regulators Consider State Farm Rate Hike

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will hold a public hearing Tuesday in Tallahassee to hear State Farm's case for raising homeowners' insurance rates nearly 28 percent and commercial multi-peril residential rates nearly 96 percent.

Florida hasn't suffered a direct hit from a major hurricane in recent years, but insurance companies say rate increases are needed to offset the rise in sinkhole claims. According to an OIR survey of 211 private insurers in November 2010, there were nearly 6,700 sinkhole claims in the state in 2010, up from 2,360 in 2006. The total cost of the claims over the four-year period was $1.4 billion.

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