Gov. DeSantis shores up reinsurance market in Britain

Image via Twitter.

Florida’s insurance market is facing pressures like never before, and Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking action.

On Friday in the United Kingdom, the Florida Governor met with British reinsurance companies, and “secured a commitment from companies in attendance to increase access for carriers serving Florida policyholders,” according to a media release from the Governor’s Office.

A request for additional information from the Governor’s office Friday is so far unanswered, but DeSantis and the head of Citizens Property Insurance each offered laudatory statements.

“Access to affordable reinsurance options for Florida carriers is important for the stabilization and long-term growth of our property insurance market,” DeSantis said. “Florida is home to one of the largest and most complex insurance markets in the world, and I was happy to provide an update about recent legislative reforms that have made the market more attractive to businesses.”

Added Citizens Property Insurance President and CEO Tim Cerio: “Gov. DeSantis continues to lead efforts within the Legislature and throughout the insurance sector to provide for meaningful reforms to Florida’s market that promote competition and consumer choice. Ensuring that Florida carriers can obtain reinsurance at a reasonable price reduces the number of enrollments and renewals within the Citizens portfolio and results in a win for Florida policyholders and taxpayers alike.”

The meeting in England comes ahead of yet another hurricane season that promises real challenges to the state, with recent reporting suggesting reforms aren’t going to lead to instant fixes after seven insurer insolvencies in the last year.

“We’re probably looking (at) about 12 to 18 months before we really have the experience to show what the Legislature has done,” Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky cautioned earlier this month.

Back in March, Cerio warned about a “difficult transition” for policyholders as they are compelled to enter the private market if they get an offer up to 20% of the Citizens rate, and as they are required to get flood insurance in any case.

The changes to Citizens are designed to reduce its policy count, which more than doubled within three years, from about 500,000 in 2020 to nearly 1.17 million as of Jan. 31.

DeSantis noted last year that Citizens was “unfortunately undercapitalized” and that the company could go “belly up” if it actually had to weather a major storm.

DeSantis has defended moves to stabilize the market, stressing that many of the current problems are inherited.

“I mean, as you know, we had a lot of companies that have been going out of business for a long time. No one wanted to come here and do business in Florida. I think we’ve changed that in going in the right direction,” DeSantis said in March. “There’s been a positive response, but part of it is you police this stuff, which you’ve got to do.”

“But when your market was so bad, you know, you didn’t have as many reputable companies that wanted to be in here. And so I think we’re, I think we’ve done, done a lot to change it but, but yes, they should, they need to be held accountable and I know that they’re gonna be aggressively doing it,” DeSantis added.

Critics carp, however.

Former President Donald Trump flogged the Florida Governor over what he labels “the worst insurance scam in the entire country.”

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried has said that “instead of coming up with a plan to deliver property insurance relief to Floridians, Ron DeSantis would rather spend his time making up culture wars and traveling across the country to chase the MAGA base.”