A.G. Gancarski
Sen. Jennifer Bradley is carrying three bills that could help people navigate challenges in the property insurance market.
SB 790 would protect people from having wind policies canceled in the event of flood damage from a hurricane.
“If flood is not a covered peril under the personal residential or commercial residential property insurance policy and the property has been damaged as a result of flood caused by a hurricane, an insurer may not cancel or nonrenew the personal residential or commercial residential property insurance policy until the earlier of when the property has been repaired or the expiration of one subsequent renewal of the policy that was in force at the time of loss or damage,” the bill says.
However, the homeowner is obligated to fully inform the insurer as well.
If “flood is not a covered peril under the personal residential or commercial residential property insurance policy, the requirements … to extend or renew the policy do not apply if the insurer has no actual knowledge of the flood damage or if the flood damage, along with the physical evidence of such damage, is not communicated to the insurer before the expiration of the policy.”
The conditions don’t apply if the property’s value is less than the deductible on the policy.
SB 792 addresses the financial health of insurance companies.
The bill would require the Office of Insurance Regulation to keep records of the “financial strength rating issued to each property insurer by an independent rating agency each calendar quarter during the reporting period.”
This would include changes, downgrades and subsequent upgrades, as well as downgraded companies “subject to delinquency or similar proceedings.”
Finally, SB 794 would mandate manual review of claim denials by a “qualified human professional” who is compelled to sign off on the refusal to pay out.
“Artificial intelligence, a machine learning algorithm, or an automated system may not serve as the basis for determining whether to deny a claim,” the bill says.
The bills from Bradley, a Clay County Republican, are timely.
Despite reforms in the property insurance market having some positive effects, fresh polling from the University of North Florida says 34% of voters believe housing and property insurance is the most important issue in the state. Moreover, 22% of respondents said they would go without insurance if they had their preference.
