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Active hurricane season in Florida could have 'detrimental impact' on home insurance

'If you have a heavy volume of loss activity during hurricane season, it's going to change the dynamics,' Mark Friedlander says
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The predictions for this upcoming hurricane season are serious with numerous storms predicted. It's creating concern over what the season could do to Florida's insurance costs.

"Large losses would have a detrimental impact on Florida's recovering market," Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute said. "The overall trend is more activity for the Atlantic Coast versus the Gulf Coast and Florida with the highest probability of any direct state for direct landfalls."

Colorado State University's predictions, which are typically worked into insurance modeling, show Florida with a 75% chance of being impacted by a hurricane.

Mark Friedlander shares his thoughts on what an active hurricane season could mean for insurance costs in Florida.
Mark Friedlander shares his thoughts on what an active hurricane season could mean for insurance costs in Florida.

As for Florida's coastal counties possibly being impacted by a named storm, below are the numbers in our area:

  • Palm Beach County: 61%
  • Martin County: 56%
  • St. Lucie County: 53%
  • Indian River County: 55%
Here are the chances of a named storm hitting Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast this hurricane season, according to forecasters at Colorado State University.
Here are the chances of a named storm hitting Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast this hurricane season, according to forecasters at Colorado State University.

Of course, no one knows exactly where any storm will make landfall or impact, and hurricanes and storms can often remain out at sea.

However, the data does give some pause about how a recovering insurance market will react to a large storm in a highly populated area.

"Large loss events always impact insurance markets, no matter how strong those insurance markets are," Friedlander said. "If you have a heavy volume of loss activity during hurricane season, it's going to change the dynamics."

If you have a question or comment about homeowners insurance, email WPTV reporter Matt Sczesny at matt.sczesny@wptv.com