Citizens provides home insurance to three times the Floridians it used to

Home insurance - Form with a pen

As the state sinks further into a coverage crisis, the insurer of last resort’s use is ballooning. The recent inflation and regular severe hurricanes have caused massive home insurance challenges in Florida, forcing many homeowners to turn to the insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance, for coverage. Lawmakers have been working to change regulations to dig out of the crisis, but the crisis is continuing. Both availability and price of home insurance coverage is becoming increasingly problematic in Florida, to the point that many property owners don’t have any…

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Florida Senate gives the nod to homeowners insurance overhaul

Homeowners insurance - Policy

The changes will involve new lawsuit limits, among others to ease the burden to property owners. This week, the Florida Senate gave its approval to overhauling homeowners insurance in the state, targeting the areas causing property owners – and therefore insurers – the largest amount of pain. The industry in the state will be undergoing a number of critical changes to help lift it out of crisis. Among the changes to the homeowners insurance industry that received approval include a new limit on lawsuits. There are also changes designed to…

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Florida property insurance market must tackle substantial issues before special session

Property insurance

Another special session will take place later in December, but some challenges must be handled first. Former Republican Florida Senator Jeff Brandes, who launched a petition calling for lawmakers to convene this spring to tackle Florida’s critical property insurance market, is now calling for additional reforms to take place ahead of this month’s additional special session. The former senator has been making these moves from the sideline to try to push more reforms along. “It’s the most urgent pocketbook problem facing Florida today,” said former Senator Brandes, who previously represented…

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Hurricane Ian places more strain on Florida’s insurance crisis

Hurricane Ian - A hurricane over Florida

Last week’s massive storm could prove to be among the most expensive in the country’s history. It remains too early to know precisely how much damage Hurricane Ian left behind as measured in dollars, but experts from Enki Research expect that the massive storm will likely have caused between $30 billion and $60 billion in damages and economic losses. The storm struck the west coast of Florida at 150 miles per hour and smashed its way through the state. The insurance industry currently predicts that it will face losses of…

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Florida home insurance soon to include surcharge

Florida home insurance - Home - cash

The additional fee on monthly bills is intended to cover several insolvent companies in the state. Florida home insurance customers can expect to see a new surcharge on their upcoming monthly bills, to act as coverage for insolvent companies in the state. The surcharge will help FIGA to cover the claims from insurers that have gone into receivership. The added surcharge Florida home insurance customers will be paying is intended to make sure claims made on policies sold by insolvent insurers will still be paid. They will support the claims…

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Regulators consider removing Florida Citizens Insurance $700K policy cap

Citizens Insurance - Policies Binder

The issue of the cap has pulled a notable amount of attention from counties with high-value home. As Florida homeowners continue to struggle to obtain coverage, industry regulators are now considering the removal of a $700,000 cap on Citizens Insurance policies. The insurer of last result is not legally permitted to cover more than $700K of a “replacement cost”. The only exception to that Citizens Insurance replacement cost limit is in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, where there is a $1 million cap instead. The issue is that the home coverage…

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Gov DeSantis says ‘significant reforms’ coming to Florida home insurance

Florida home insurance - Reforms

Another insurer has dropped 64,000 policies, sending the state into an even worse condition. With only a week and a half left until the Atlantic hurricane season begins, the Florida home insurance crisis has achieved urgent status. Property owners across the state have been scrambling to obtain the coverage they require. Even worse, in a market already bleeding policies and insurers, FedNat Insurance Company and its sister companies have dropped over 68,000 Florida home insurance policies. This insurance news has arrived just as the special legislative session has been scheduled…

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