At a recent meeting, Florida Democratic Party leaders contemplated how a direct hit from a major hurricane could bankrupt the state-run property insurance company, Citizens.
“Florida Democrats sound the alarm as hurricane season starts” was the headline several newspapers gave to state Democrats as they met to discuss what could happen with this year’s hurricane season, including property insurance.
Another Democrat criticized Gov. DeSantis for not planning to call another special session to address property insurance. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried added, “We are one bad hurricane away from bankrupting our state.”
Despite all their criticism of Gov. DeSantis, Florida Democrats didn’t propose any solutions to the property insurance crisis. Republicans have made progress on dealing with the issue, such as tort reform and creating an environment for reinsurance companies to do more business in the state.
Recently, 10 companies announced no rate hikes, and 8 said they were planning rate decreases for consumers. However, with some of the positive signs taking place, there is also some bad news in the mix.
Most Floridians are still seeing their costs go up, and this past week, the Citizens Board of Governors approved raising the rates of the state’s largest property insurer, Citizens Insurance, by 14% on their policyholders.
This includes cost increases for policyholders on single-family homes, condominiums, mobile homes, and rental properties.
Several countries are reporting that Citizens’ clients could see an increase of around $500 for the year.
The rate increase proposal will still need to get approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation.
There has been some speculation that Gov. DeSantis may call for another special session on property insurance sometime this fall, but nothing has been confirmed.
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