TAMPA, Fla. — Dera Eads took her hobby of making macrame and turned it into a side hustle, selling both online and at farmers markets across Tampa Bay each week.
She does this so she can make ends meet due to rising insurance rates and increasing mortgage payments.
"If it's a couple of bucks here or there, I appreciate it," Eads said. "I'm afraid because I'm on a fixed income."
She's fearful she may be priced out of her Carrollwood home of 25 years. Pulling documents that showed her property insurance rates have gone up from $2,460 in 2021 to being quoted $4,550 for next year, nearly doubling her monthly mortgage payments.
"From $591 to $1,000," she said. "I get a $2,000 income. If I was single, this would be taking half of my income. That's not even talking about car insurance, electric, forget about food."
She emailed ABC Action News, wondering what options are available for her to shop around insurance companies.
It comes as the State's Office of Insurance Regulator announced that two new companies have been approved to operate in the State of Florida, now making it eight new companies in the last year.
"If your current policy is going up a lot and you want to shop, more companies coming online is a good thing," said Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute.
Ovation Home Insurance and Manatee Home Insurance are both startups, he said, but they operate under a larger group that already has track records in Florida.
"You can check out the history of the companies that have already been operating," he said.
To see a full, more detailed list of the eight new companies now approved to operate in the state, click here.
"The fear is not being able to live in my home anymore because I can't afford it because that's the absolute fear," Eads said.
If you want to share your insurance story or have questions you'd like our team to look into, email ABC Action News Anchor Nadeen Yanes, who is committed to covering Florida's insurance crisis, at Nadeen.Yanes@wfts.com
