Citizens Insurance is growing by about 30,000 policies a month. It should end Q2 at or very close to 900,000 policies and exceed 1,000,000 policies before the end of 2022. I know many homeowners have no other option in this market but Citizens Insurance. What's alarming though is if a major hurricane or series of hurricanes were to hit Florida, Citizens Insurance may exhaust their capital reserves. If that were to happen, by law, Citizens Insurance would then place an assessment on every home and automobile owner in Florida to recoup the balance. This includes homeowners not insured by Citizens. 

Governor DeSantis recently signed new insurance reforms into law. However, Governor DeSantis himself stated these reforms will not have much effect in 2022 and may take until the middle of 2023 to show results. In the mean time several insurance companies are reacting to the new reforms by shutting down new business across Florida , putting new underwriting rules in place to only offer coverage to new homes, cancelling policies to reduce exposure or taking additional double digit rate increases.  Depending on the profile of your home and what part of the state you live in, finding new home insurance can be difficult.  

We still have some options available. Visit us at www.justasktim.com or give us a call (954) 678-2658 to see if we can help you.

Tony Prete, Owner
​Teal Insurance Management

Southern Fidelity Insurance has been ordered into receivership and is being liquidated. Insureds have until July 15th, 2022 to secure new coverage.  The list of companies no longer in business since February of 2022 is now; Avatar Insurance, Lighthouse Insurance, St. Johns Insurance, Mason Insurance, Federated National Insurance Company, and Southern Fidelity.  

Additionally, many companies like Progressive and TypTap Insurance have stopped writing new home insurance policies in Florida. Other companies have stopped writing in certain counties that include Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Orange, Seminole and Osceola. These counties account for approximately 35% of the states population.  And others are cancelling policies in these counties to manage exposure.

Now more than every you need a solid independent agent to guide you through the options so you can get the most coverage you can afford.  You can request a quote at www.justasktim.com or give us a call at 954-678-2658.

Tony Prete, Owner
​Teal Insurance Management

​The governor called a special legislative session demanding something be done to improve the home insurance marketplace. Out of that work came two new bills SB-2D and SB-4D. Last Thursday the governor signed these bills into law. The consensus is that it will take 12 to 18 months for these bills to have a meaningful effect, so you can still expect to see home insurance premium increases again later this year and early next year. Here are some highlights of what was passed. These are high level summaries; you can read the bill at www.flsenate.gov....
 
Provisions Relating to Roofs
> Permits insurance companies to offer special deductibles that apply only to the roof.
> Roof deductibles do not apply for total losses related to a covered peril, hurricanes, fallen trees or roof repairs that are less than 50% of the roof.
> When a roof deductible applies, the insurance company can initially pay actual cash value until proof of repairs are provided.
> Prohibits insurance companies from refusing to insure a home with a roof less than 15 years old solely because of the age of the roof.
> If the roof is 15 or more years old, the insurance company is prohibited from refusing to insure the home based solely on the age of the roof so long as a roof inspection, paid for by the insured, determines the roof has 5 or more years of useful life left.
 
Provisions Relating to Claims Handling
> Requires insurance companies to make a physical inspection within 45 days after receipt of a proof of loss, except in claims subject to a hurricane deductible.
>Requires insurance companies to advise the policyholder of the right to request a copy of a detailed estimate generated by the adjuster within 7 days of an adjuster being assigned to the claim. Upon receiving such a request from the policyholder, the insurance company must send the detailed estimate within the later of 7 days after the insurance company receives the request or 7 days after the estimate of the amount of loss is completed.
> Requires an insurance company to provide a written explanation of the basis in the policy in relation to facts or applicable law, for the payment, denial, or partial denial of a claim.
 
There are additional provisions that I have not summarized here related to contractor and public adjuster advertisements, assignment of benefits, notices of intent to litigate, and attorney's fees for suits under assignments of benefits. For full details about those provision go to www.flsenate.gov
 
You can request a quote at www.justasktim.com or call us at 954-678-2658.

Tony Prete, Owner
Teal Insurance Management