More than 1.2 million Floridians rely on Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-backed insurer of last resort, but even those premiums are going up, and the company will be vulnerable should disaster strike the state.“Florida faced a manmade crisis in property insurance crisis for many years and this was long before we suffered major hurricane losses,” Mark Friedlander said.Friedlander works for the Insurance Information Institute and is based in Florida.He said legal system abuse and fraud were the largest contributors to this crisis.According to the Insurance Information Institute, 80% of the nation's property claim lawsuits happened in Florida.“Florida had very loose regulations, and it made it very easy to sue insurers," he said. "Rulings were very favorable to plaintiffs.”This phenomenon led to a special legislative session where Florida lawmakers moved to eliminate one-way attorney fees and loopholes for frivolous lawsuits.Another more obvious cause for the crisis was repeated hurricane damage.“Florida has faced three landfalling hurricanes in the last two seasons," Friedlander said. "No other state has had a single landfalling hurricane.”Previous coverage: Hurricane Idalia impacts struggling insurance marketFlorida residents, like Jessica Smith Dos Santos, pay the highest property insurance premiums in the nation.She and her family moved to Lake Worth from Nevada in 2022."Hindsight being 2020, I might have chosen a different home where I had options,” she said.Her family's home does not have a concrete frame, so the only company that will write a policy to cover it is Citizens."Is it really necessary for us to cut a grocery budget in order to pay for insurance prices when we don't have choices?” she asked.According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost for homeowners insurance in the Sunshine State is $6,000 a year, 3 1/2 times the rest of the nation.Dos Santos' bill went up more than $1,000 just this year.“All of a sudden, they have $1,400 more in insurance policy just for the year that I didn't get to have a voice in, I didn't get to have a choice in, and I can't go shop a competitive market,” she said.Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is not only the state's insurer of last resort, it is the state's largest insurer after numerous companies left the marketplace altogether or stopped writing policies in 2022 and 2023.“Right now, Citizen’s has extreme risk exposure and it doesn’t have enough reserve to pay for a major hurricane loss,” Friedlander said.In an effort to depopulate Citizens, Florida regulations now require anyone who receives an offer from another insurance company to take it if it is within 20% of what they are paying for coverage through Citizens.Slide Insurance: Company helping take policies away from Citizens, but do you have to take their offer?Six new private insurance companies recently entered Florida's insurance market: Tailrow Insurance Company, Mainsail Insurance Company, Orion 180 Insurance Company, Orion 180 Select Insurance Company, Orange Insurance Exchange and Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange.“Not much of a track record on a lot of those carriers because some of them were created brand new, but we’ve also seen the fact that it will hopefully stabilize the rates as these companies try to become competitive,” owner of National Risk Experts, Greg Buck, said.Lawmakers returned to Tallahassee in January. Below is legislation proposed in this session aimed at tackling the crisis:House Bill 809: Would allow homeowners to only insure what they owe on a homeSenate Bill 1106: Expand access to Citizens Property Insurance for people with homes valued between $700,000 and $1 millionHouse Bill 1213: Expand access to Citizens Property Insurance to all homeowners for wind coverage onlyPrevious coverage: Potential expansion of Citizens Property Insurance availabilityNone of this legislation has made it out of committee. The current legislative session ends March 8.Gov. DeSantis is also asking the legislature to fund the "My Safe FL Home" grant program on a permanent, recurring basis, at $107 million per year.If you qualify, the state will give you $2 for every dollar you spend on upgrading your roof, exterior doors, garage door, and windows, up to $10,000.To qualify, your home must be inspected, insured for less than $700,000, and built before 2008.
LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. —
More than 1.2 million Floridians rely on Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-backed insurer of last resort, but even those premiums are going up, and the company will be vulnerable should disaster strike the state.
“Florida faced a manmade crisis in property insurance crisis for many years and this was long before we suffered major hurricane losses,” Mark Friedlander said.
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Friedlander works for the Insurance Information Institute and is based in Florida.
He said legal system abuse and fraud were the largest contributors to this crisis.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, 80% of the nation's property claim lawsuits happened in Florida.
“Florida had very loose regulations, and it made it very easy to sue insurers," he said. "Rulings were very favorable to plaintiffs.”
This phenomenon led to a special legislative session where Florida lawmakers moved to eliminate one-way attorney fees and loopholes for frivolous lawsuits.
Another more obvious cause for the crisis was repeated hurricane damage.
“Florida has faced three landfalling hurricanes in the last two seasons," Friedlander said. "No other state has had a single landfalling hurricane.”
Previous coverage: Hurricane Idalia impacts struggling insurance market
Florida residents, like Jessica Smith Dos Santos, pay the highest property insurance premiums in the nation.
She and her family moved to Lake Worth from Nevada in 2022.
"Hindsight being 2020, I might have chosen a different home where I had options,” she said.
Her family's home does not have a concrete frame, so the only company that will write a policy to cover it is Citizens.
"Is it really necessary for us to cut a grocery budget in order to pay for insurance prices when we don't have choices?” she asked.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost for homeowners insurance in the Sunshine State is $6,000 a year, 3 1/2 times the rest of the nation.
Dos Santos' bill went up more than $1,000 just this year.
“All of a sudden, they have $1,400 more in insurance policy just for the year that I didn't get to have a voice in, I didn't get to have a choice in, and I can't go shop a competitive market,” she said.
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is not only the state's insurer of last resort, it is the state's largest insurer after numerous companies left the marketplace altogether or stopped writing policies in 2022 and 2023.
“Right now, Citizen’s has extreme risk exposure and it doesn’t have enough reserve to pay for a major hurricane loss,” Friedlander said.
In an effort to depopulate Citizens, Florida regulations now require anyone who receives an offer from another insurance company to take it if it is within 20% of what they are paying for coverage through Citizens.
Slide Insurance: Company helping take policies away from Citizens, but do you have to take their offer?
Six new private insurance companies recently entered Florida's insurance market: Tailrow Insurance Company, Mainsail Insurance Company, Orion 180 Insurance Company, Orion 180 Select Insurance Company, Orange Insurance Exchange and Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange.
“Not much of a track record on a lot of those carriers because some of them were created brand new, but we’ve also seen the fact that it will hopefully stabilize the rates as these companies try to become competitive,” owner of National Risk Experts, Greg Buck, said.
Lawmakers returned to Tallahassee in January. Below is legislation proposed in this session aimed at tackling the crisis:
House Bill 809: Would allow homeowners to only insure what they owe on a home
Senate Bill 1106: Expand access to Citizens Property Insurance for people with homes valued between $700,000 and $1 million
House Bill 1213: Expand access to Citizens Property Insurance to all homeowners for wind coverage only
Previous coverage: Potential expansion of Citizens Property Insurance availability
None of this legislation has made it out of committee. The current legislative session ends March 8.
Gov. DeSantis is also asking the legislature to fund the "My Safe FL Home" grant program on a permanent, recurring basis, at $107 million per year.
If you qualify, the state will give you $2 for every dollar you spend on upgrading your roof, exterior doors, garage door, and windows, up to $10,000.
To qualify, your home must be inspected, insured for less than $700,000, and built before 2008.
