Created: 10/18/2006 1:34:55 PM 
By Paige St. John Florida Capital Bureau
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- There's good news today for homeowners who buy their insurance from Nationwide Insurance Company of Florida.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation announced it intends to deny Nationwide's requested 72 percent rate hike, a major setback for the state's third-largest property insurer.
Commissioner Kevin McCarty said he is troubled with how high rates would have jumped in some of the company's individual territories - as high as 180 percent.
"That's just not sustainable for people to pay," McCarty said.
He said regulators asked Nationwide to at least cap its hikes, but the company refused.
Nationwide spokesman Joe Case could not provide an immediate company comment. Nationwide has the option of appealing McCarty's ruling before a state arbitration board.
It submitted its rate filing in July, seeking increases that hit inland customers the hardest. Leon County residents, for instance, faced a 135 percent increase, though their rates still would have been among the lowest in Florida.
The company, which last year stopped writing new business in Florida, has some 253,000 policies, including more than 8,000 in Brevard and 3,700 in Indian River counties; 7,400 in Lee, 5,000 in Collier and 2,800 in Charlotte counties; 5,700 in Escambia and 2,300 in Santa Rosa counties.
The five counties with the greatest amount of policyholders are Palm Beach with 29,177, Pinellas with 21,558, Orange with 16,298, Hillsborough with 14,307, and Broward with 13,459.
The requested hikes included a 15 percent profit plus $137 million to its parent company, in exchange for backup coverage if there is a hurricane. Florida's Insurance Consumer Advocate, Steve Burgess, contended the company deserved only a 19.9 percent increase.
Some of the other proposed increases:
Brevard: 14 percent coastal, 54 percent inland. Charlotte: 28 percent coastal, 94 percent inland. Collier: 19 percent coastal, 38 percent inland. Duval: 125 percent coastal, 168 percent inland. Escambia: 42 percent coastal, 97 percent inland. Franklin: 42 percent coastal, 70 percent inland. Hillsborough: changes ranged from 45 percent to 96 percent, depending on zip code. Indian River: a 3.5 percent reduction on the coast, 57 percent increase elsewhere. Lee: 19 percent coastal, 47 percent inland. Pinellas: 66 percent coastal, 118 percent in St. Petersburg, 105 percent elsewhere. Santa Rosa: 44 percent coastal, 98 percent inland. ©2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.
