A Florida politician yesterday launched an attack on Bermuda amid a bid to transfer more than $2.2 billion into the private reinsurance market.

Representative Frank Artiles said moves to transfer the risk from the state-run Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund should be blocked by the State cabinet, which meets today.

Mr Artiles, a Republican, added that the proposed transfer by Florida Cat fund was “corporate welfare” and claimed it would lead to higher property insurance rates for Florida residents.

And he said: “If Cat Fund chief operating officer Jack Nicholson is permitted to gift $2 billion into the private reinsurance market, the only beneficiaries would be the reinsurers themselves, mostly based in Bermuda.

“These are people who actually hope for catastrophes so that they can demand higher rates and larger profits.”

Mr Artiles, a former US Marine turned lawyer and politician, launched the attack in an opinion article sent to Florida newspapers.

Brad Kading, president of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers declined to comment on Mr Artiles’ outburst.

But he pointed to support for the $2.2 billion transfer from a range of Florida bodies, including the Florida Consumer Action Network, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the American Consumer Institute and Florida TaxWatch.

Mr Nicholson said the proposal was designed to maximise the state’s ability to pay claims in the event of a major hurricane.

But — as Mr Artiles noted in his article — Florida Governor Rick Scott and trustees of the Cat Fund rejected a similar proposal last year.

Mr Artiles wrote: “They should shut him down this year too.”