WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Depending on who you ask, the price for homeowners insurance in Florida can vary from a couple thousand to over $10,000.
Earlier this year, state Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky disputed the very high estimates.
"We have the entire universe of every single dollar of premium that's collected by insurers in the state and the number of policy holders, the average price is no where near that, it's about $3,400 dollars," Yaworsky said at a policyholders roundtable in Clearwater.
Recently, online firm Bankrate put the state premium average somewhere between the low and high numbers.
"Around $6,300 per year versus the average (national), which is around $2,100 per year," said Bankrate analyst Shannon Martin.
Premiums in Florida can be vastly different from the northern part of the state to highly developed South Florida.
And the discrepancy may lie in the difference between average and median numbers.
At any number, most observers agree Florida has the costliest insurance in the country.
"My insurance rate in the last two years has doubled," said state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis at the policyholders roundtable. "And I ask you in the room, if your insurance rates have gone up more than 50% in the last two years, raise your hand. OK, everybody in the room."