The Office of Insurance Regulation says it is not ready to go
head-to-head with Florida Farm Bureau over denied rate hikes.

The state agency on Monday asked an administrative law judge in
Tallahassee to postpone hearings on the two-month-old case, set for hearings on Nov.
5 through 9. The state contends the case is "complex" and requires
extensive discovery, including expert witnesses and depositions of nine
individuals that have not yet taken place.

What's more, OIR lawyer Marc Herskovitz says he's tied up in other
matters -- including a district court appeal with Universal Health Care
Insurance.

The property insurance wars go public again on Thursday, when state
regulators are scheduled to grill executives of Cincinnati Insurance
about the role financial rating firms and reinsurers played in the
company's request for rate hikes.