Insurance rates to go up thanks to Florence and Michael

Anyone who owns a home in Florida will soon be paying even more for insurance thanks to an active hurricane season.

The wild weather pushed rates up last year, and thanks to hurricanes Florence and Michael, rates are expected to go up again another 10 to 20 percent.

Homeowners on the coast will feel it the most, even if they weren’t affected by the storms.

Insurance companies were overwhelmed last year, having to pay out for hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, plus wildfires in California.

Florida homeowners had to pay about 2 to 15 percent more on insurance this year.

But rates are going up again.

"It varies depending on what region of the state that you're in, but on average, I would say the range is anywhere from 10 to 20 percent," said Steven Carothers, president of College Park Insurance.

Like many in Central Florida, Rich Niersteadt and his family were not affected by the hurricanes, but they’ll still have to pay more.

They moved to Florida recently from New Jersey.

"They were forcing people out of the state because the taxes were so high. The average person really couldn't afford that. So I'm hoping that doesn't happen here in Florida,” Niersteadt said.

Carothers said the impact in Florida could last a while.

"Consumers could possibly see two to three rate increases over the next three to four years as a result of all these hurricanes that we've seen within the last five years,” he said.

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