State leaders by Nationwide dropping policies

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- State leaders say they're disappointed to hear that Nationwide Insurance is planning to drop more than 40,000 homeowner and commercial property policies starting in January.

Nationwide is one of the major property insurers in Florida. The company says it will have about 176,000 policies after the cuts.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink says she's disappointed that yet another one of the large national insurers is dropping a lot of customers.

But she says the good news is that Nationwide has made arrangements to turn over most of the policies to a Florida insurer.

She says it will also give those customers a chance to shop around for better rates.

Sink says she does not think Nationwide's decision is an indication that the insurance reforms enacted earlier this year are failing.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)