Big changes (and increases) coming for Florida home insurance in 2023.
Can we stop the bleeding?
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Will there be any insurance relief for Florida Home Insurance in 2023?
When will the legislature’s new package start to help lower rates?
Will Citizens’ new policies make it easier to get in?
Is there anything we can do to help keep our premiums from going through the roof?
Here’s what we know as we head into 2023.
Are home insurance rates going down in Florida in 2023?
Unfortunately home insurance rates will continue to rise in 2023.
Nine Home Insurance companies went out of business in Florida in 2022.
Companies that have not gone out of business have raised their rates.
Many companies have trouble buying reinsurance for lawsuit-prone Florida.
Most are not offering to write new policies.
Citizens – the market of last resort – has surpassed a million policies and the total keeps going up.
And Citizens is passing new rules to make it harder to get in.
Is there any end in sight?
What about the Home Insurance legislation passed in 2022?
The reforms passed by the Legislature should help in the long run (read a few years).
The availability of Discounted Hurricane Reinsurance should help some Home Insurance Carriers stay in business.
Prompt Pay Laws lower the time Insurance Companies have to respond to and to pay claims.
The insured gets paid faster and gives attorneys less ammunition for “Bad Faith” lawsuits.
Insured’s have less time to file a claim after the event – 12 – 18 months in most cases.
It eliminates one-way attorney fees which increased the number of lawsuits in Florida.
The attorney fee-multiplier is also gone now.
It forbids the Assignment of your claim Benefits to contractors.
All these should result in less litigation and lower claim costs.
But these all will take time to work through the system before we see meaningful reductions in rates.
what’s Happening with Citizens in 2023?
Citizens is determined to slow the influx of new policies.
Starting April 1, homes in Special Hazard Flood zones (A zones) must carry Flood insurance.
(June 1st for Renewals)
This includes properties with no mortgage.
This includes Condos.
On March 1, 2024, they will require flood on homes insured for $600,000, in ALL Flood zones.
That lowers to $500,000 in 2025 and $400,000 in 2026.
And by 2027, all Citizens homeowners policyholders will have to carry Flood insurance.
Is there Anything we can do about it?
We always advised clients to READ THE POLICY.
Its now more important than ever.
This might be the time to make compromises on your coverage to save money.
Changing coverages is risky, but if it helps you keep your policy affordable, it might be time to compromise.
What parts of your policy should you check?
Dwelling coverage –
Do you have enough? Do you have too much?
Many companies are raising dwelling coverage on renewal policies.
Insurance companies will tell you that its a result of inflation and that materials and labor has gone way up.
Some cynical people will tell you that its another way to raise your rates.
If it makes sense, lowering your Dwelling will save you money.
Other Structures –
Do you have any? Do you only have a small fence?
Maybe you can get away with 2% of Dwelling or none at all.
Personal Property
There are a couple of items to check here.
Do need 50 -75% of Dwelling coverage when you can get away with 25%
Do you need Replacement Cost for your Contents?
Maybe you can live with depreciated Actual Cash Value.
Deductibles
Can you live with a higher deductible on your All Perils deductible? Like $2500 or $5000?
Would you be OK with a 5% or 10 % deductible on Wind and Hurricane?
A word of caution here:
Higher deductibles save you money on premium, but they will cost you more if you have a claim.
Make your home more “Hurricane Proof”- and Florida will help pay.
Yes I’m talking about the My Safe Florida Home program.
This program will pay $2 for every $1 the homeowners pays to harden their home against Hurricanes.
Do you need a new roof?
Have you always wanted to install Hurricane proof windows and doors?
How about changing the toe nails holding your roof to the trusses to hurricane wraps or clips?
These are only a few things that qualify.
There are some restrictions though.
We wrote a whole blog on this program you can review. Click here to read it for more information.
And when you are ready to participate, you can find applications here.
Contact Cronin Insurance
And as always, you can always Contact Us for any questions you may have
Or for a quote on Home Insurance.
Low rates, choice of companies and personal advice: Cronin Insurance is the Wise Choice.
