Florida tops the nation in force-placed insurance

Florida led the country in its share of force-placed insurance premiums the past three years, including 35 percent, or $1.2 billion, in 2011 — more than three times the amount sold in the next-largest state, California.

That’s according to sworn testimony provided last month for the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

Florida has one of the country’s highest numbers of foreclosures, and most people stop paying insurance premiums when they default on mortgage payments. That means a lot of policies are imposed on consumers without coverage.

Force-placed insurance protects lenders against possible losses on property they’ve loaned money for, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said.

But the coverage has drawn scrutiny from him and federal regulators because the prices often are much higher than policies sold directly to consumers. Many force-placed policies are sold by insurers with unregulated rates or with agreements to provide lucrative commissions or other perks to companies that manage consumers’ loans and impose the insurance — a potential conflict of interest, according to consumer advocates.

“That’s something that needs to be investigated,” McCarty said Friday.

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