Four bills introduced late Friday in the state House and Senate would establish a new fund from which insurers could purchase insurance to help protect themselves from risk. The bills would also allow homeowners with roofs that are 15 years or older to get an inspection before insurers deny coverage. Under the proposed legislation, insurers cannot refuse to issue a policy based solely on the age of a roof if an inspection reveals that it has at least five years of life remaining.
If a roof is more than 25% damaged but already meets the state's 2007 building code, it would only have to be repaired rather than replaced under the proposed legislation's building code exemption. One of the measures would also provide grants of up to $10,000 per home to retrofit them to make them less vulnerable to hurricane damage. To qualify, properties must have insured values of $500,000 or less, be homesteaded and built before 2008, and be located in areas where storm winds can exceed 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hours). The state would pay homeowners $2 for every $1 they invested in mitigation efforts.
According to the proposals, some insurers would be required to obtain coverage from the State Board of Administration's new Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders program.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted several issues that have contributed to rising insurance rates in the state in a proclamation calling lawmakers back to Tallahassee next week, including high rates of insurance litigation that drive up premiums and massive underwriting losses for insurance companies that have resulted in insolvency or canceled policies, among other things.
According to Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the state accounted for 9 percent of all claims filed nationally last year but nearly 80 percent of all property insurance lawsuits.
The bills would increase state oversight so that regulators could spot trends, analyze causes, and try to prevent insurer failures in the future. They would also limit attorney fee awards in court cases involving insurance claims assigned to third-party contractors and prohibit the transfer of attorneys' fees in property insurance litigation.
According to the proposals, insurers can impose a separate roof deductible as long as it does not exceed 2% of the policy's dwelling limits or half of the roof replacement costs. According to the bill, policyholders must be able to opt out of this if they so desire.