Property insurance system puts Floridians at risk

Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporter Paige St. John spent the past year investigating Florida’s property insurance crisis. Her work exposed companies that continued to sell policies when they had no way to pay claims and revealed company owners who demanded rate hikes while secretly siphoning profits from their struggling businesses. The series also revealed how insurers and reinsurers manipulated the market to overcharge homeowners and maximize profits, even as those homeowners struggled to pay their rising bills. Her examination of the finances of more than 100 companies led to a Web presentation and mobile app that allows homeowners to judge their insurer’s ability to pay claims.