State Farm execs explain decision to leave state
TALLAHASSEE (AP) – State Farm Florida has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the state in the last decade and risks insolvency if it continues writing property insurance here, company executives told a legislative committee Tuesday.
Jim Thompson, president of State Farm Florida, told the House Insurance, Business & Financial Affairs Policy Committee on Tuesday that the company must stop its financial bleeding to ensure it can pay off future claims.
“This is a day that we hoped would never come for State Farm,” Thompson said. “This is the nightmare I’ve been waking up to each day since I assumed this responsibility.”
It was largely the same tale of woes the Illinois-based insurance giant outlined in his letter to customers last month that it planned to leave the property market in Florida, canceling business with some 1.2 million clients in the next two years.
Lawmakers were polite in their questions and virtually split on State Farm’s decision to pull out of Florida in contrast to the hardline position of Gov. Charlie Crist, who believes the state should let them go.
Deputy Insurance Commissioner Belinda Miller said it’s likely that Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty will approve the request, but only after it meets a deadline to provide information on customers about to be cut loose.