TALLAHASSEE - The state has approved a 2 percent surcharge on all property insurance policies to help cover outstanding claims for Poe Financial, whose insolvent insurance companies are being liquidated under state control.

Insurers must obtain permission from the state's Office of Insurance Regulation to pass on the extra cost to policyholders, said Michelle Lovern, deputy director of the state's Insurance Guaranty Association. If that happens, policyholders would pay $20 more for a $1,000 premium and $60 for a $3,000 premium.

Last week, the association that covers outstanding claims for insolvent insurance companies approved the surcharge, which is expected to raise $225 million to help cover outstanding claims for Poe Financial's insurance operations.

In May, the insurer, led by former Tampa Mayor Bill Poe Sr., handed over the last of its three insurance subsidiaries to the state after not being able to pay outstanding claims from 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.

Poe Financial Vice President David Gough said he didn't know how the state arrived at the 2 percent figure or whether it considered opportunities for recovering costs through reinsurance.