TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) — The Florida Legislature yesterday overwhelmingly passed a bill members hope will lower the state’s skyrocketing property insurance rates and sent the measure to Gov. Charlie Crist, who said he would likely sign the bill this week.Crist said he still must review the details, but it appeared to deliver the “meaningful, broad-based” relief he has demanded. The House passed the bill 116-2 and the Senate followed a few minutes later with a unanimous vote.

“We are going to lower rates in a meaningful way,” said Crist, who took office earlier this month. “This is a great beginning.”

Although the measure (HB 1A) will provide some relief to a large number of home owners, how much remains murky. Estimates range from 5 percent for many inland customers to averages of nearly 20 percent for others, particularly those on the coast.

The biggest savings are expected to come from expanding insurers’ access to the state’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which pays claims when insurers can’t. Insurance companies pay into the fund, but the coverage is cheaper than the private reinsurance most companies carry.

The bill requires insurers to determine if they could save by purchasing more coverage from the fund — and if they do, to pass the savings on to consumers.

The measure also has a mandatory rate rollback for customers of the state-created Citizens Property Insurance, Florida’s largest insurer.

It also requires regulators to deny rate increases if they would lead to “excess profits,” and allows consumers to choose much higher deductibles, or to go without wind coverage, as a way to reduce their premiums.

Another section aims at trying to prevent insurance companies from dropping policies or leaving the state. It requires auto insurers to sell homeowners coverage in Florida if they cover property in any other state.