State Farm leaving Florida property insurance market

More than 1 million customers will be affected

Little more than two weeks after state regulators turned down its request for a 47.1 percent rate hike, State Farm announced Tuesday it would stop offering property insurance in Florida. And although policy holders will have up to two years to find another insurer, Gov. Charlie Crist suggested the state shouldn’t miss State Farm much. “They probably charge about the highest rates in the state,” Crist said as he blasted the company at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “I think Floridians will be much better off without them.” The departure affects about 1.2 million policyholders in Florida.