TAMPA, Fla. — Florida voters frustrated by skyrocketing homeowners' insurance premiums want to make sure state leaders are listening.
"The price of things here seemed very reasonable at first, the last few years they've gone up so much it makes me wonder, can I continue to stay here as a senior citizen, retired, fixed income," said homeowner Marilyn Sweeney.
WATCH: As early voting begins, here's where CFO candidates stand on insurance
"You know, the insurance situation is not getting better," said Slake Counts, a Tampa Heights homeowner.
We're now taking those concerns straight to the three candidates running to be Florida's next chief financial officer.
The CFO oversees the state's insurance market, making the race critical for homeowners statewide. Two Democrats — military veteran, attorney and former IRS watchdog Earle Ford and former Florida Sen. Annette Taddeo — are heading into the August primary.
There is one other Republican challenger, US Air Force veteran Frank Collige going up against current CFO and Republican Blaise Ingoglia, though Ingolgia is the incumbent in the race.
DEMOCRAT EARLE FORD
Ford, after watching a viewer video expressing concerns, said these homeowners are spot on.
"I think it hits the mark," Ford said.
He argued the current administration has failed to deliver meaningful relief.
"The first thing is I think the property tax is a distraction. We know that this administration has done nothing to lower the prices. They say it's under tort reform, and what they've really done is they defamed the consumer," Ford said.
Ford said enforcement would be his first priority if elected.
"First thing, enforcement, right? We have laws that are not being enforced, right? The Office of Insurance Regulation has the ability to enforce these laws, make sure these issues are being pressed, and when you, I think under Milton we had almost 40% of claims never paid out or they ended up in zero or no money being issued. And they just fall to the wayside, right? The state needs to step in and making sure these people are made whole again," Ford said.
WATCH: Extended interview with Earle Ford
Learn more about Ford's campaign here.
FORMER STATE SENATOR AND DEMOCRAT ANNETTE TADDEO
Taddeo, who sat on the Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee for five years, shook her head while watching the same viewer video.
"People are fed up. I'm fed up too. I'm running to make sure that we have that balance and that voice for the people," Taddeo said.
She framed the CFO role as a watchdog position — one she said has not been filled adequately.
"The job of CFO is particularly the job to be the watchdog of taxpayers. And you can't be a watchdog when you are a lapdog either for the governor or for the insurance companies. We need someone that is actually going to say, show me the books, show me the numbers. Don't hide all this money," Taddeo said.
Taddeo said forcing insurance companies to be transparent about their profits is key.
"They always claim that they have proprietary reasons why they can't open up the books, but the fact is, when you're getting policies from Citizens [Property Insurance] to build a business, literally — and then the year after they go up, like you reported, they go up astronomically. So that's not OK," Taddeo said.
Watch extended video with Annette Taddeo
Learn more about Taddeo's campaign here.
REPUBLICAN FRANK COLLIGE
There is a challenger on the Republican-side hoping to unseat CFO Ingoglia and that's Frank Collige, an insurance adjuster who is making insurance a priority in his campaign. We also showed him our viewers concerns.
"I'm tired of Florida being hurt by insurance companies taking advantage of us, and no one in Tallahassee is willing to stand up and fight for us. So that's why I said, the heck with it. I'm gonna throw my hat in the ring, and, you know, see what we can do," Collige said.
Pushing for more insurance reform is something Democrats in Florida have pushed for in recent years, though those bills went nowhere as the Republican-led majority wanted to wait until the market recovers on it's own.
"Well, I'm definitely not a Democrat, OK, but what it is, is this is my forte. This is what I've built a living on. I know insurance inside and out. I used to sell insurance full time. I know what insurance is doing. I know what they're doing well. I know what they're doing badly. And I know what's happening in the Department of Financial Services when it comes to insurance. Insurance breaks the law. Insurance carriers. But the Department of Financial Services does nothing about it," Collige said.
Watch extended interview with Frank Collige
On solutions, Collige says he would roll back some of the insurance tort reform he believes went too far in favor of insurance companies.
"They got rid of one-way attorney fees. Now, yes, attorney fees were being taken advantage of, but when they try to pass prevailing attorney fees, it died in the Senate. I wonder why, you know, because prevailing attorney fees means whichever side wins gets their attorney fees covered. So 100% it was all pro-carrier. Everything that they did over the last 4 years was pro-carrier. Nothing to help Floridians," Collige said.
CURRENT CFO AND REPUBLICAN BLAISE INGOGLIA
Blaise Ingolia is the current CEO and incumbent running to keep his seat. He was appointed to the position by Governor Ron Desantis in July of 2025. Ingoliga also sat on the Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance and championed the 2022-2023 insurance reforms, state leaders claim is bringing down rates. However, it's not what he heard from our viewers.
"I understand that people are frustrated with the cost of insurance, but we also have to remember that insurance prices are based upon replacement costs, and we've seen a huge spike in real estate prices here in the state of Florida over the last 6 years. What we did was make sure that we got the fraud out of the system, these fraudulent lawsuits, and a lot of these lawsuits, and that's why we had to do tort reform, and we've had amazing success with it," Ingoglia said.
Ingoglia said rolling back tort reform is not an option.
"If we would not have done tort reform, their premiums would have been a lot higher than it is right now. Doesn't mean that there's still work to be done. There is," Ingoglia said.
When I asked what the path forward looks like, Ingoglia pointed to enforcement actions already underway and legislation he has pursued.
"The first thing is that I, along with Commissioner Mike Yaworski, we have levied fines of about $2.4 million over the last 12 months of insurance companies that did not do what they were contractually obligated to do. I actually sued a large insurance company. As far as what we can do more, there is a bill that I tried to pass when I was in the legislature. It was a transparency issue to show where these insurance companies were actually driving their profits," Ingoglia said.
That transparency bill did not pass. When I asked why, Ingoglia acknowledged the setback.
"I don't know. I think it's a missed opportunity. So it's unfortunate. It doesn't mean that we stop trying," Ingoglia said.
Ingoglia said he remains committed to the work ahead.
"Everything I have been doing in this position is to make Florida more accountable, more transparent, and more affordable, and I'm going to continue doing that," Ingoglia said.
Watch extended interview with Blaise Ingoglia
Learn more about Ingoglia's campaign here.
Share Your Story with Nadeen
As part of her commitment to help you navigate the state of insurance, Tampa Bay 28 Anchor Nadeen Yanes is here to listen to you. If there is an insurance problem you have run into, or feel others need to be aware of, we want to hear about it. Just fill out the form below.
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