Florida
'Cautiously Optimistic' on Florida: Defense Costs Down, but Reinsurance Still a Drag
Analysts with the AM Best financial rating firm and other stakeholders are cautiously optimistic about the resurrection of the Florida property insurance market, 18 months after state lawmakers approved monumental litigation reforms.
That was the sentiment gleaned from a Thursday webinar hosted by the rating company and from an AM Best report on the Florida market, released the same day.
“It’s still a little too early to declare a win in the marketplace, but signals do look promising,” AM Best analyst Josie Novak said.
Notably, since the legislation was enacted in late 2022, direct defense and cost containment expense – considered a key measure of the claims litigation burden on carriers – has dropped sharply. In 2022, Florida carriers reported the highest DCC-to-direct-premiums-earned-ratio of all U.S. states, at 8.4%, for homeowners, allied and fire lines. The next-closest state was Louisiana, at 3.6%, AM Best reported.
By the end of 2023, that measure had been cut in half, falling to about $307 million for the 47 insurers that write most of the Florida market, including the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., but excluding some major national carriers.
“While still early, a downward trend has been observed, indicating the reform has positively impacted results,” the report noted.
While 2023 was a year that saw only one relatively minor hurricane hit Florida, claims and defense costs would have been two to three times higher under under Florida’s pre-reform statutory regime, which had allowed assignments of benefits and one-way attorney fees, said Randy Fuller, the Florida leader for Guy Carpenter, the global reinsurance firm.
Another sign of health in the patient: The combined ratio for Florida-focused carriers, excluding Citizens, dropped to the break-even mark in 2023, outpacing AM Best’s national property insurance composite measure. Citizens’ combined ratio fell to less than 81%.
“These are results that have not been seen since the earlier part of the latest decade,” the report noted.
The expense ratio for the Florida specialists fell to about 26%, down from a high of 35% in 2019. Loss-reserve development for Florida insurance carriers also is showing promise, with favorable numbers for the first time in years, AM Best said.
Florida carriers also added significantly to policyholder surplus last year – without major cash infusions. From 2019 to 2023, the Florida-focused insurers, including those that became insolvent, received $2.6 billion in capital contributions, but surplus grew by just $239 million, the analysis showed.
But in 2023, surplus had jumped by $532 million and that was was not dependent on capital contributions.
The news about the reinsurance market was a little more of a mixed bag. After three years of turmoil, spiking reinsurance rates, limits on coverage and higher retention levels, the 2024 renewals for most Florida carriers seem to be “incredibly stable,” Fuller said.
The legislative changes have created some optimism among most reinsurers, analysts said.
But reinsurance costs are still weighing heavily on insurers, and Florida carriers have a much higher dependency on reinsurance than insurers in other parts of the country – almost 10 times the national average, the AM Best report noted. From 2019 to 2023, unaffiliated ceded premium for the Florida insurers more than doubled, from $3.1 billion to $6.4 billion.
Although many carriers have sharply raised rates for policyholders in recent years, the growth in direct premium written has not kept pace with the growth in ceded premium, the report found.
“The materially higher position indicates greater direct risk borne by Florida specialists, necessitating more effective risk transfer, underwriting, pricing, and risk exposure management,” the report said.
Still, other signs point to improved market conditions, including modest rate decrease requests from several insurers and the approval of eight new carriers for Florida this year. Most of those new companies are reciprocal exchanges, a model that some insurance agents until recently had been unfamiliar with, said Dave Newell, vice president of membership and industry relations for the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.
But once the model was explained to agents, “they have become more comfortable with it,” Newell said in the virtual conference.
The full report can be seen here.
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Florida
Gas prices rise in South Florida amid U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, as the stock market also reports a dip
Four days into the Iranian conflict, gas prices are rising at many stations in South Florida.
“I’ve traveled all over the United States,” says Stacey Williams. CBS Miami spoke to him as he was gassing up on the turnpike. He paid $66 for 20 gallons of diesel to fill his pickup truck. Williams has noted the fluctuations in fuel as he drives to locations for his work on turbines. He just spent three weeks at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant south of Miami.
“The salary we get paid per hour does not add up to what we pay for gas, housing, and food,” he says.
Mitchell Gershon is also dealing with the higher gas prices. He has to fill three vehicles constantly for his business—Thrifty Gypsy, a pop-up store at musical venues. He’s back and forth from Orlando to Miami and says fuel is costing him 20% more. When asked how he handles these fluctuations, he said, “Have a little backup cash so you are ready for it.”
The rise in oil prices contributed to a drop in the stock market on Tuesday, which means some retirement accounts dipped, too. CBS Miami talked to Chad NeSmith, director of investments at Tobias Financial Advisors in Plantation, for perspective on the drop.
“We are seeing most of the pullback today. Yesterday was a shock,” he says. He’s not expecting runaway oil prices but says investors should stay in the loop: “Pay attention to your portfolio. Stick to your goals. Have a plan because these things are completely unpredictable.”
That unpredictability has Williams adjusting his budget. “You just cut back, cut corners, all you can do,” he says.
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop is set to be executed Tuesday evening in Florida.
Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Kearse was initially sentenced to death in 1991 after being convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.
The Florida Supreme Court found that the trial court failed to give jurors certain information about aggravating circumstances and ordered a new sentencing. Kearse was resentenced to death in 1997.
Kearse awoke at 6:30 a.m. He declined a last meal and has remained compliant throughout the day, corrections spokesman Jordan Kirkland said during a news conference. Kearse met with a spiritual adviser during the day but had no other visitors.
This is Florida’s third execution scheduled for 2026, following a record 19 executions last year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The highest number before then was eight executions in both 1984 and 2014, under former governors Bob Graham and Rick Scott, respectively.
According to court records, Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in January 1991. When Kearse couldn’t produce a valid driver’s license, Parrish ordered Kearse out of his vehicle and attempted to handcuff him.
A struggle ensued, and Kearse grabbed Parrish’s firearm, prosecutors said. Kearse fired 14 times, striking the officer nine times in the body and four times in his body armor. A nearby taxi driver heard the shots and used Parrish’s radio to call for help.
Parrish was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died from the gunshot wounds, officials said. Meanwhile, police used license plate information that Parrish had called in before approaching Kearse to identify the attacker’s vehicle and home address, where Kearse was arrested.
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Kearse. His attorneys had argued that he was unconstitutionally deprived of a fair penalty phase and that his intellectual disability makes his execution unconstitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Kearse’s final appeals Tuesday afternoon without comment.
A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis, far outpacing Alabama, South Carolina and Texas which each held five executions.
Besides the two Florida executions this year, Texas and Oklahoma have each executed one person so far.
Two more Florida executions have already been scheduled for this month. Michael Lee King, 54, is scheduled to die on March 17, and the execution of James Aren Duckett, 68, is set for March 31.
All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop is set to be executed Tuesday evening in Florida.
Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Kearse was initially sentenced to death in 1991 after being convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.
The Florida Supreme Court found that the trial court failed to give jurors certain information about aggravating circumstances and ordered a new sentencing. Kearse was resentenced to death in 1997.
This is Florida’s third execution scheduled for 2026, following a record 19 executions last year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The highest number before then was eight executions in both 1984 and 2014, under former governors Bob Graham and Rick Scott, respectively.
According to court records, Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in January 1991. When Kearse couldn’t produce a valid driver’s license, Parrish ordered Kearse out of his vehicle and attempted to handcuff him.
A struggle ensued, and Kearse grabbed Parrish’s firearm, prosecutors said. Kearse fired 14 times, striking the officer nine times in the body and four times in his body armor. A nearby taxi driver heard the shots and used Parrish’s radio to call for help.
Parrish was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died from the gunshot wounds, officials said. Meanwhile, police used license plate information that Parrish had called in before approaching Kearse to identify the attacker’s vehicle and home address, where Kearse was arrested.
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Kearse. His attorneys had argued that he was unconstitutionally deprived of a fair penalty phase and that his intellectual disability makes his execution unconstitutional.
Final appeals were pending Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.
A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis, far outpacing Alabama, South Carolina and Texas which each held five executions.
Besides the two Florida executions this year, Texas and Oklahoma have each executed one person so far.
Two more Florida executions have already been scheduled for this month. Michael Lee King, 54, is scheduled to die on March 17, and the execution of James Aren Duckett, 68, is set for March 31.
All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.
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