Florida Homeowner’s Insurance CRISIS!

Florida Homeowner’s Insurance CRISIS! (What you need to know about Florida Insurance Senate Bill 2D)

Florida is having a crisis in the homeowner’s insurance industry. Did you hear about the Bill that Desantis plans to sign to help with our homeowner’s insurance costs? If not, you’ll want to read what it entails, and whether or not it will REALLY make a difference in YOUR home insurance bill. Homeowner’s insurance is an issue in nearly every home sale that we’re dealing with today, so this is HUGE news for the real estate industry and it’s likely HUGE news for YOUR wallet too! A recent article by Florida Realtors® covers a meeting where Florida Lawmakers met in Tallahassee for a special session to address Florida’s ongoing property insurance crisis. In the last couple years, Floridian’s homeowner’s insurance costs have skyrocketed! At my home they actually doubled in 2022 and the primary reason was that my roof was just 14 years old! If it hasn’t happened to you YET, don’t think it won’t or can’t happen. If you’ve bought a home in the last couple years, especially an older home, then you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. I’m praying that this bill will make a difference. When I meet with sellers, one of the first things I do is address the issue of homeowner’s insurance.

Some sellers are aware and some of them think I’m blowing smoke. But the reality is that the cost of insurance is now making the affordability crisis much worse, as buyers that used to be able to afford some homes are now priced out simply because of the cost of homeowner’s insurance. So, let’s address what Senate Bill 2D is supposed to do. Here’s link so you can check it out yourself.

First, this bill is intended to protect policyholders from nonrenewal.

This says that insurance companies cannot refuse to renew or write new policies on homes with roofs less than 15 years old simply because of the age of the roof. That would’ve been nice to have in my case.

Secondly, it aims to address the solicitation of homeowners from contractors aiming to get work by fraudulent claims against the homeowner’s insurance company.

Maybe you’ve been offered, or accepted an offer to have your roof replaced because the roofer claimed that the roof was bad because it was missing a shingle, or something like that. I surely have! I’m not saying that all these guys are bad, because there is a need for that, but some of it appears to be a bit shady-at least to me. I work with several upstanding, roofing professionals and I’m sure they’re appalled by some of this behavior.

This bill also allows insurance companies to offer a discount to homeowner’s if they accept a deductible of up to 2% of the insured value or 50% of the roof replacement cost.

There’s more to it than this, but to me, it’s similar to the deductible that most of us already have for a hurricane deductible. I really like this part as I’m someone that will almost never make a claim of any sort and I believe that doing so just makes me a target to be dropped or to have my rates increased.

It also has a couple pieces that address attorney’s fees and frivolous lawsuits.

There’s quite a bit here, and most of it is way above my head, but what it means to me is that if they can stop some of the lawsuits and the money from the insurance companies that ends up in attorney’s hands, they can work towards keeping our insurance costs down.

Another important component prohibits insurance companies from denying claims without sufficient reason and strengthens the insurer’s oversight.

I don’t know if this one will ACTUALLY DO anything, but I don’t think it can hurt.

There’s much more to this bill, including monies made available to homeowners for hurricane preparedness, condo reform and much more. Also, it’s important to remember that I am not an attorney, so if you have questions about how this bill impacts you from a legal perspective, PLEASE reach out to your attorney. I’m just a local Realtor® sharing my views on what I believe to be huge news for homeowners and the real estate industry.

So, we have this great bill that we hope will be the savior that will end this insurance crisis that we’re facing here in Florida, but will it REALLY make a difference? First, I think everyone realizes that IF it does make a difference, it won’t be immediate. These things take time and IF it does work as intended, it may take time for some of the insurance companies that have left Florida to return. I believe it’s important to remember that this crisis didn’t start overnight. Insurance companies have left, little by little, leaving fewer of them here with more ability to jack up our rates simply because of supply and demand. As such, the problem won’t be fixed overnight either. I believe that, as insurers that are no longer in Florida look back and see that there’s money to be made here in Florida, they’ll be back.

Some complained that Desantis didn’t do enough, that the bill doesn’t do enough. I’m not a politician and I don’t want to get into all that, all I care about is what we’re paying for homeowner’s insurance.

This bill was just passed, so there’s much more to be learned about it. Only time will tell if it has the desired effect. If you’d like to discuss this bill or any other real estate concerns, let us know!