‘Knock on wood’? Florida in ‘overdrive’ to ‘support’ homeowners making insurance claims

Jewell Baggett stands beside a Christmas decoration she recovered from the wreckage of her mother’s home, as she searches for anything salvageable from the trailer home her grandfather had acquired in 1973 and built multiple additions on to over the decades, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia.

Florida’s property insurance market is one of the worst in the country, but the state is promising to protect policy holders in the wake of the state’s first hurricane this year.

“As we begin Hurricane Idalia recovery efforts, OIR remains committed to protecting consumers and increasing options for policyholders in the voluntary market,” said Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky. “In the coming weeks, OIR will work in overdrive to both support policyholders in impacted areas and continue our efforts to promote a robust insurance market for consumers.”

An Executive Order is intended to provide reassurance.

EO 315284-23 applies to Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Wakulla counties. It extends “grace periods” and bans cancelling policies in those areas until the end of October.

The state is also fulfilling promises to bring new insurers into the market. OIR notes that Orange Insurance Exchange is now in the market along with Orion180 Select Insurance Company, Orion180 Insurance Company, Mainsail Insurance Company, and Tailrow Insurance Companies. Those insurers take a burden off of the state insurer of last resort; Citizens Property Insurance, which now has more than 482,000 “takeout” policies being absorbed from its books.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned about Citizens’ bloat in the past. He noted last year Citizens was “unfortunately undercapitalized” and that the company could go “belly up” if it actually had to weather a major storm.

Questionable messaging isn’t just a thing of the past though. DeSantis, on successive days, blamed the Legislature for not implementing insurance reforms he wanted, then refused to say what those reforms were when asked directly.

The Governor also made news earlier this year when he suggested homeowners should “knock on wood” and hope the state didn’t get hit by a storm.