BOCA RATON, Fla. — A day after WPTV reported that Florida Peninsula Insurance is asking for a rate decrease, homeowners are telling us there is another side to the story.
After our story aired on Wednesday, we received some emails from viewers that said their premiums are still going up this year, including one homeowner who said Florida Peninsula dropped their coverage.
WATCH BELOW: Resident pushes back on Florida Peninsula Insurance's rate reduction request
Stacy Sipple of Boca Raton was among those who emailed us.
"I was perturbed," Sipple told WPTV on Thursday. "I just felt ... news viewers should see both sides of the story."
Sipple said she would have welcomed the news of the rate rollback if only they hadn't dropped her coverage a year ago.
"We have almost every single savings protection you can get," Sipple said. "We got a hip roof. We have a brand new roof. It was a month old at the time."
WPTV offered Florida Peninsula an opportunity to comment on this story, but they declined.
We spoke this week with the company’s chief operations officer about the rate reduction, along with the strategy involved in sizing up risk and writing policies, especially in South Florida.
WATCH BELOW: Florida Peninsula speaks to WPTV about rate reduction request
"It is a high-risk area because this traditionally is where the hurricanes came through here," Florida Peninsula Insurance President Clint Strauch said. "It's a higher risk."
It's something all insurers wrestle with, and Sipple admits her home, built in the mid-1970s, is located east of Interstate 95.
"I was upset because the company is based in Boca (Raton)," Sipple said. "They're the same distance from the ocean as we are."
Insurance companies are very mindful of how much risk exposure they have in a part of the state where hurricanes are expected to hit. After being dropped by Florida Peninsula Insurance, Sipple couldn't find another insurer except the state's insurer of last resort, Citizens Insurance.
Citizens is involved in an effort to reduce its numbers through take-out offers from private companies. Florida Peninsula is one of those companies, recently approved for 40,000 Citizens Insurance take-out offers starting in mid-October.
Matt Sczesny is determined every day to help you find solutions in Florida's coverage collapse. If you have a question or comment on homeowners insurance, you can reach out to him any time.
