[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by Zenstyle

What are the results of the two pieces of legislation passed by the Florida congress to rein in insurance companies?

1. People who want to buy a pre-owned home with a roof older than 15 years are being told they can't get their home insured at all now unless someone replaces the roof.
2. People who already own a home with a older-than-15-year-old roof are being dropped unless they replace the roof.
3. People who have a roof nearing 15 years old are having their premiums doubled, even tripled.
4. The roofing industry is making bank.
5. Most homeowner premiums have gone up to cover the exploitation committed by the roofing companies after hurricanes.
6. Some insurance companies have said "no thanks" to insuring homes in Florida at all.
7. Manufactured homes (single and double-wides) aren't affected by any of this, because they aren't insured as homes, they're insured as mobile homes/manufactured homes, which is a whole other category of insurance that MOST insurance companies don't offer anyway. I believe there is just one insurance company that will insure a manufactured home here in Central Florida. It's around $3000 per year, and will only pay out around $30,000 for catastrophic damage.

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

1. People who want to buy a pre-owned home with a roof older than 15 years are being told they can't get their home insured at all now unless someone replaces the roof.
2. People who already own a home with a older-than-15-year-old roof are being dropped unless they replace the roof.
3. People who have a roof nearing 15 years old are having their premiums doubled, even tripled.
4. The roofing industry is making bank.
5. Most homeowner premiums have gone up to cover the exploitation committed by the roofing companies after hurricanes.
6. Some insurance companies have said "no thanks" to insuring homes in Florida at all.
7. Manufactured homes (single and double-wides) aren't affected by any of this, because they aren't insured as homes, they're insured as mobile homes/manufactured homes, which is a whole other category of insurance that MOST insurance companies don't offer anyway. I believe there is just one insurance company that will insure a manufactured home here in Central Florida. It's around $3000 per year, and will only pay out around $30,000 for catastrophic damage.

From what I've read, the following rules are in effect:

An insurer may not refuse to issue or refuse to renew a homeowner’s policy insuring a residential structure with a roof that is less than 15 years old solely because of the age of the roof.

For a roof that is at least 15 years old, an insurer must allow a homeowner to have a roof inspection performed by an authorized inspector at the homeowner’s expense before requiring the replacement of the roof of a residential structure as a condition of issuing or renewing a homeowner’s insurance policy.

The insurer may not refuse to issue or refuse to renew a homeowner’s insurance policy solely because of roof age if an inspection of the roof of the residential structure performed by an authorized inspector indicates that the roof has 5 years or more of useful life remaining.

The new legislation also updates Florida home insurance roof requirements by allowing roofs that comply with the state’s 2007 building code to be repaired, instead of needing to be replaced, even when the roof is more than 25 percent damaged.


There are a number of reasons why insurance companies are leaving FL.

For one, FL counted for 76% of ALL homeowner lawsuits filed nationwide against insurance companies as of 2019. A lot of this has been because of the "assignment of benefits" clauses that have allowed law firms to take advantage.

Another factor is the increasing number of reinsurers who have chosen to leave FL in the face of rising litigation.

The last 3 hurricanes to hit FL have taken a huge toll on the financials of many insurance companies.

In 2023 the FL legislature made additional changes. Among the provisions approved were a $2 billion injection into a Reinsurance Assistance Program (RAP), a crackdown on skyrocketing attorney fees to discourage frivolous claims and a new program to help Florida homeowners make their homes safer and more resistant to hurricane damage. Some critics say these changes are a good start but more needs to be done.


It's not just Florida homeowners dealing with insurance companies leaving the state. California is now experiencing similar problems due to wildfires. Over the past 2 years at least 20 insurance companies have left Lousisiana. We have friends in Texas that say it's getting difficult to find coverage there.

By the way, insurance companies are also dropping health insurance policies in a number of states as well.

[Corrie22]

Originally Posted by Sunshine Rules

For one, FL counted for 76% of ALL homeowner lawsuits filed nationwide against insurance companies as of 2019. A lot of this has been because of the "assignment of benefits" clauses that have allowed law firms to take advantage.

good grief.....I knew it was a lot....I had no idea it was that much

excellent post Shine

[1insider]

Did the new legislation prohibit assignment of benefits? I wonder if that one issue was banned if Florida would be worth writing policies in again.

[Corrie22]

”For policies issued after January 1, 2023 the right to assign benefits for this type of work has been eliminated.”

https://theprolawgroup.com/end-of-as...coming%20worse.

...this is probably a big reason for cancelling existing policies....and making people write new ones.....after Jan 1

[HeartofFlorida]

Originally Posted by move4ward

Another one bites the dust.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/busine...nes-insolvent/

Sooooo do policy holders who never filed a claim get their money back!?

[LKJ1988]

Go bare if ya can man and save the cash and pain.

[OutdoorLover]

AAA is in the news for cutting back its insurance exposure in Florida - joining the exodus. "Seven insurers have been declared insolvent in Florida since early 2022."

https://apnews.com/article/florida-i...5fc38ef822a376

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

AAA is in the news for cutting back its insurance exposure in Florida - joining the exodus. "Seven insurers have been declared insolvent in Florida since early 2022."

https://apnews.com/article/florida-i...5fc38ef822a376

Well, we will be getting a renewal notice from our insurer, albeit the premium has jumped up from $3500 to $4700. But they did do a decent job of covering our Ian damage claims. We also have other options ( from 6 other insurers, most with premiums significantly less,) but I think we will stick with the devil we know.

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by Sunshine Rules

From what I've read, the following rules are in effect:

An insurer may not refuse to issue or refuse to renew a homeowner’s policy insuring a residential structure with a roof that is less than 15 years old solely because of the age of the roof.

For a roof that is at least 15 years old, an insurer must allow a homeowner to have a roof inspection performed by an authorized inspector at the homeowner’s expense before requiring the replacement of the roof of a residential structure as a condition of issuing or renewing a homeowner’s insurance policy.

The insurer may not refuse to issue or refuse to renew a homeowner’s insurance policy solely because of roof age if an inspection of the roof of the residential structure performed by an authorized inspector indicates that the roof has 5 years or more of useful life remaining.

The new legislation also updates Florida home insurance roof requirements by allowing roofs that comply with the state’s 2007 building code to be repaired, instead of needing to be replaced, even when the roof is more than 25 percent damaged.


There are a number of reasons why insurance companies are leaving FL.

For one, FL counted for 76% of ALL homeowner lawsuits filed nationwide against insurance companies as of 2019. A lot of this has been because of the "assignment of benefits" clauses that have allowed law firms to take advantage.

Another factor is the increasing number of reinsurers who have chosen to leave FL in the face of rising litigation.

The last 3 hurricanes to hit FL have taken a huge toll on the financials of many insurance companies.

In 2023 the FL legislature made additional changes. Among the provisions approved were a $2 billion injection into a Reinsurance Assistance Program (RAP), a crackdown on skyrocketing attorney fees to discourage frivolous claims and a new program to help Florida homeowners make their homes safer and more resistant to hurricane damage. Some critics say these changes are a good start but more needs to be done.


It's not just Florida homeowners dealing with insurance companies leaving the state. California is now experiencing similar problems due to wildfires. Over the past 2 years at least 20 insurance companies have left Lousisiana. We have friends in Texas that say it's getting difficult to find coverage there.

By the way, insurance companies are also dropping health insurance policies in a number of states as well.

It doesn't really matter WHY (insert alleged reason here) insurance companies are leaving Florida, California or whatever state. It doesn't really matter WHY (insert alleged reason here) insurance companies are doubling or tripling premiums, or engaging in other shenanigans. It's a waste of time doing the blame game, and insurance companies will keep doing their greedy thing.

What DOES matter is the fact that none of our elected officials are doing anything to help the consumer. Nothing that DeSantis or Newsom or anyone has done has stopped insurance companies from leaving or insurance companies from price-gouging citizens; that is going to continue.

What they (elected officials) need to do is help consumers faced with out of control cost of living increases and lack of coverage, such as insurance premiums, by offering tax credits or some other kind of subsidy.