For the second year in a row, Florida avoided a big hurricane hit. But homeowners continue to pay high insurance rates, despite lawmakers efforts and the governor’s promise of rates “dropping like a rock.” The insurance industry is not banking on another quiet hurricane season next year.

State emergency response team leaders breathed a sigh of relief Friday as they closed the book on another hurricane season with no damage. The last two years were a big change from 2004 and 2005, when insurers paid 36 billion dollars in claims, and homeowners saw premiums double and triple.

Now, Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp is asking where is the relief?

“These prices have to reflect the reality. Not just these models that are based on Armageddon, or some other, I don’t know what they’re based on”

State meteorologists say Florida lucked out this year. High pressure forced Category 5 Hurricanes Dean and Felix further south. They slammed into Mexico and Nicaragua instead of Florida.

Homeowner’s insurance companies will make more than 3 billion dollars this year. But they say those profits won’t offset the couple of years they spent deep in the red.

Sam Miller is with the Florida Insurance Council. He blames re-insurance costs. They went up on average 76 percent in 2005…

“When private reinsurance rates go up, the rates we have to charge consumers go up. When private reinsurance go down, the rates we charge consumers go down.”

And the insurance industry believes Floridians can’t bank on another quiet hurricane season in 2008.

Later this month, several insurance companies will appear before state regulators about possible collusion.