It'll be peak hurricane season soon, and AAA and Farmers Insurance aren't taking any chances in Florida. Both companies now say they're declining business in the state, signaling a financial crisis should the worst happen this summer.
Unfortunately, Florida's insurance market has become challenging in recent years," the company said in a statement emailed to CBS MoneyWatch. "Last year's catastrophic hurricane season contributed to an unprecedented rise in reinsurance rates, making it more costly for insurance companies to operate."
AAA declined to say how many customers won't have their policies renewed, saying only that the change will affect "a small percentage" of policy holders.
The company is the fourth insurer over the last year say it is backing away from insuring Floridians, a sign extreme weather linked to climate change is destabilizing the insurance market. Farmers Insurance recently said it will no longer offer coverage in the state, affecting roughly 100,000 customers.
If they get hit, DeSantis's administration will go from anti-woke crusading to begging the federal government for money. The federal government will bail it out. Then Florida will go right back to anti-woke crusading. The only outcome will be Americans paying to rebuild uninsurable homes. This might be frustrating, but think of it like this: it's good practice for what'll happen when conservatives start taking climate change seriously in a decade or two, because that'll mean its time for the federal government to buy up soon-to-be-submerged beachfront land at its peak prior market value.
