Florida lawmakers set to satisfy on ailing property insurance coverage market
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Legislature will meet subsequent week for a particular session on property insurance coverage and property tax reduction within the wake of injury brought on by Hurricane Ian, officers introduced Tuesday.
The leaders of the Florida Home and Senate issued the proclamation convening the Legislature from Dec. 12 to 16.
Lawmakers shall be tasked with reforming components of the state’s troubled property insurance coverage market, offering tax or different monetary reduction associated to wreck from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, and making a toll credit score program for frequent Florida commuters.
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The session comes as Florida’s property insurance coverage market has handled billions of {dollars} in losses, rising costs for customers and insurer insolvencies, even earlier than the highly effective Hurricane Ian slammed into the state in September and brought on widespread injury.
Subsequent week’s particular session would be the second time the Florida Legislature met this yr to handle points within the property insurance coverage market.
Lawmakers in Might handed laws making a $2 billion reinsurance program, providing grants to householders who retrofit properties to be much less weak to hurricane injury and limiting varied legal professional charges in some insurance-related lawsuits.
The legislative bundle was seen by many within the statehouse as a significant first step in repairing the market, although some stated it didn’t do sufficient to right away decrease charges for householders.
The insurance coverage business blames overzealous litigation for issues out there. Florida regulation permits attorneys to gather excessive charges in property insurance coverage instances. State insurance coverage regulators say the state accounts for nearly 80% % of the nation’s householders’ insurance coverage lawsuits however simply 9% of all householders insurance coverage claims.
Attorneys’ teams have argued insurers are additionally responsible for refusing to pay out claims, saying householders file swimsuit as a final resort.
The turmoil has brought on the business to see two straight years of internet underwriting losses exceeding $1 billion every year. A string of property insurers have change into bancrupt, whereas others are leaving the state solely.
Owners unable to get protection or priced out of plans have flocked to the state’s public insurer of final resort, Residents Property Insurance coverage, which this summer time topped 1 million insurance policies for the primary time in nearly a decade.
Residents Property Insurance coverage was created by the state in 2002 for Floridians unable to search out protection from non-public insurers.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in October signed an govt order extending the deadline for property taxes for houses and companies destroyed or left uninhabitable after Ian and stated lawmakers would meet this yr to handle extra points associated to the storm.
The governor’s workplace in a press release Tuesday stated DeSantis “expects the legislature to rein within the prices of extreme litigation and make sure the property insurance coverage market in Florida is each engaging to insurers and extra aggressive for customers.”