Florida rejects State Farm rate hearing request

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty this morning denied State Farm Florida's request to have a formal hearing over its rejected rate hike request.

On Aug. 25, McCarty's office rejected State Farm's request to raise property insurance rates an average of 47.1 percent statewide.

That prompted the insurer to seek a hearing. But according to Steve Parton, general counsel with the Office of Insurance Regulation, "State Farm's petition for hearing was incomplete.''

"In our opinion, they did not demonstrate that there were any material issues of fact in dispute,'' Parton said in a statement. "They basically just said that they disagree with the reasons we gave in the notice."

State Farm has until Sept. 15 to amend its petition and refile or it will not be entitled to a hearing, regulators said.

State Farm spokesman Chris Neal could not be reached for immediate comment.

For now, the company's 9 percent rate reduction that became effective through an October 2007 agreement remains in effect.