Florida homeowners have a lot to worry about: the threat of hurricanes, low home values and huge insurance costs. According to the Herald-Tribune, Florida ranks as one of the most expensive places in the world to insure a  home. According to reports, in Monroe County, Florida rates have come in as high as $13,000 a year to insure a $150,000 home. That means insurance will cost more than the mortgage itself. Experts say insurance rates have doubled and even tripled in the last five years in other counties. “How much longer will I be able to afford to live here?” Scott Snyder, a Sarasota homeowner, said to a reporter. Snyder says  since 2003 he has bounced between four insurers and watched his premium nearly double from $1,350 to $2,644.

The Herald-Tribune says homeowners are paying more for less. Things like pool cages and sinkhole coverage was once included but now is not and officials say it’s partly because tired homeowners have stopped complaining. “People have accepted, sadly, the premiums they are now paying and are not yelling and screaming as they were in the past,” Sen. Mike Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican, told the  newspaper. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a crisis right now.”

Many large insurance providers have left the state, prompting the arrival of smaller start-up insurance companies. While the new companies are providing a service, it’s coming at a bigger cost to homeowners. According to the Associated Press, 2011 will be no different. More than 4 million Florida homeowners will see rate hikes that were recently approved by state regulators to the tune of $718 million, despite the fact that no hurricanes have hit the state in five years.

Spokeswoman for New York-based Insurance information Institute, Lynne McChristian, offered up three reasons for increased insurance rates in some parts of Florida. The first is that there have been an increase in new claims from Hurricane Wilma. In Florida, policyholders have up to five years to file a claim and since the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Wilma just passed more homeowners were filing claims. McChristian says there are also more sinkhole reports which is forcing higher payouts from insurance companies. Finally she told TCPalm.com that some insurance companies are responding to changes in hurricane mitigation discounts by increasing rates. “Our state is exposed to more catastrophic loss than any other state,” McChristian told TCPalm.com. “Our population has grown and the building boom of the past few years put more people and more property in areas of the state that are most vulnerable to hurricane damage and storm surge. A single major catastrophe in Florida can bring losses as high as $100 billion and the insurance industry has to prepare for that.”