When it comes to finding solutions to the windstorm insurance crisis, Benson's Lighting & Fans is in the dark.

Owner Ric Jolie said the 43-year-old company was recently dropped by the insurer covering its warehouse. After a lengthy search, only one carrier was willing to write a new policy, but the premium was exorbitant: $40,000 - more than four times the $9,000 he formerly paid, plus a $100,000 deductible.

``Who carries that kind of cash?'' he asks. Jolie has no choice but to pay up. His mortgage lender requires insurance.

Across South Florida, thousands of small- and medium-size companies - entrepreneurial ventures that form the backbone of the regional economy - face similar, if not worse, situations as the insurance crisis begins to hit home at businesses. Now well into the hurricane season, many companies are finding that windstorm coverage is unaffordable - or unavailable.

In recent weeks, at least a dozen insurers, including Travelers, North Pointe and Zurich, have canceled commercial policies outright, won't renew existing policies or are not taking new business. Owners of shops, restaurants, manufacturing plants, hotels and office buildings are in a bind because there is no state-run insurer of last resort for them. Homeowners can turn to Citizens Property Insurance if their insurers drop policies or go out of business.

State officials said last month that they are studying whether to revive an insurance pool to cover commercial properties that no one else will cover. Last week, the Office of Insurance Regulation set up a website to survey business owners about their insurance problems. But overall, there has been little progress from Tallahassee.

`A CRISIS FOR US'

That's no comfort for South Florida's business owners.

``I can't speak for other people, but this is a crisis for us,'' said Barr Keator, owner of B&K Equipment Supply in Davie, a 13-year-old company with four employees. He says that somehow insurance companies need to be cajoled to stay in Florida and state government should take a bigger role in doing that.

Keator found out last month that his property insurance will be canceled in September, although he has never made a claim. He hasn't yet found coverage.

Insurance agents are frustrated, too.

``We're not having any luck'' finding insurance for commercial clients, said Phil Lyons, vice president of InSource, a Dadeland-area agency. Many commercial real estate deals are not closing because the buyers can't buy insurance, he added.

A major problem, he said, is that reinsurance - basically, insurance that insurance companies buy to protect against potential losses - is in short supply. The cost of reinsurance also has risen dramatically. That cost is passed on to policyholders.

After eight hurricanes hit the state in the past two years, insurers also fear another bad season. Many have drained their cash reserves after paying losses from those storms.

Their solution: Reduce risk. That means get policies off their books by canceling them immediately or as they come up for renewal.

PROTECTION ENDING

Pablo Conde, president of A&A Underwriters in Miami, has been scrambling to find insurance for about 100 clients who are losing their North Pointe coverage on Thursday. North Pointe is dumping thousands of policies in the state.

Conde said some of the businesses will ride out the rest of the hurricane season without windstorm protection because it either is not available or is prohibitively expensive.

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