State Farm Cancels Policies on Florida Coast

State Farm, Florida’s top home insurer, is ditching 125,000 of its coastal customers this year—right in the middle of hurricane season. The cancellation notices will start flowing this week, informing residents that they’ll be unprotected starting Aug. 1, NBC News reports. State Farm says it’s making the move because Florida regulators wouldn’t let them jack up rates 47.1%.

State Farm will, however, allow its agents to place the canceled customers with other companies and continue servicing the policies, which could mitigate the impact somewhat. The owner of a rival company said spreading out State Farm’s customers could make the market more competitive, and be a “blessing in disguise” for homeowners. “I think when they go to shop ... they’re going to find that there are actually some tremendous savings,” he said. (More State Farm stories.)