Concerns grow that snowbirds will be hurt by Citizens takeout bill
Despite predictions that Florida’s legislative leaders had little interest this year in enacting major insurance reforms, Senate and House bills are headed to the finish line that could affect thousands if not millions of Florida homeowners.
Proposals with a strong chance of survival with just a week remaining in the 2024 legislative session include one that would allow state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to expand its depopulation program to surplus lines carriers for anyone not living in a “primary home.”
Opponents last week voiced concerns that allowing surplus lines into Citizens takeout program would leave thousands of homeowners at risk of getting nothing if their homes are damaged during a hurricane and their insurer become insolvent.
Surplus lines carriers are insurers whose rates and policy forms are not regulated by the state, and that cover risks that traditional insurers cannot or will not cover. In Florida, homeowners often turn to surplus lines carriers if they cannot find coverage in the traditional market and their homes’ replacement values, in all counties except Monroe and Miami-Dade, exceed Citizens’ $700,000 threshold.