Commissioner Rejects NCCI Rate Hike, Asks for 14.5% Increase Instead

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier late Tuesday rejected a proposed 19.6% rate increase recommended by the National Council on Compensation Insurance and urged the rate-maker to amend its filing to a 14.5% hike. While NCCI had projected that the Florida Supreme Court's April decision in Castellanos v. Next Door Co. would increase costs by 15% to 18%, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation projected the impact at 10.1%. The Castellanos decision found the attorney fee formula in Section 440.34 of Florida Statutes unconstitutional as a violation of due process under both ...