Latest news with #CitizensPropertyInsuranceCorp
Axios
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Florida bills to watch: Condo insurance, election changes and guns
Florida lawmakers reconvene tomorrow to kick off this year's legislative session, with bills filed to enshrine " Gulf of America" in state statutes and to allow guns but not undocumented immigrants on college campuses. Why it matters: There are more than 1,300 bills for the Legislature to wade through, each with the potential to reshape our daily lives. Here are a few we're monitoring: Condo insurance: Miami Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez filed a bill (HB 913) that would revoke state-run Citizens Property Insurance coverage for condominium associations that have failed to conduct building safety inspections or structural integrity reserve studies. Most of the over 11,000 Florida condo buildings required to conduct the studies under a Dec. 31 2024 deadline haven't done so. Waste management: Amid the debate over how Miami-Dade County will replace the burned-down Doral waste-to-energy facility, state Sen. Bryan Ávila (R-Hialeah Gardens) filed SB 1008, which would prohibit building trash incinerators or waste-to-energy facilities within a half-mile of any residential property, commercial property or school. State Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez (R-Doral) filed SB 946 to prohibit a local government from building a waste management facility within two miles of the Everglades Protection Area. Gun regulation rollback: State Sen. Randy Fine (R-Melbourne Beach) filed bills to lower the state's gun-buying age limit to 18 years old and allow concealed firearm carry on college campuses. State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R-Spring Hill), meanwhile, introduced legislation to ban the use of artificial intelligence to detect firearms in public areas; it would be a first-degree misdemeanor to do so. Election changes: Ingoglia also proposed a sweeping elections bill (SB 1414) that includes changes experts say would likely eliminate citizen-led ballot campaigns to amend the state constitution. It would also prohibit the use of student ID cards when voting, among other provisions. Another immigration crackdown: Fine's bill (SB 244) would prohibit state universities with acceptance rates below 85% from accepting applications from or admitting undocumented students. State Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) filed legislation to revoke the law licenses of undocumented immigrants on Nov. 1, 2028, unless proof of U.S. citizenship is provided on or before that date. State Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Hollywood) filed a bill to expand E-Verify – a system that verifies employees' immigration status – to all employers, with penalties of up to $10,000 in fines. State Rep. Berny Jacques (R-Seminole) filed a similar bill without the penalties. Gulf of America: State Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R-Indian Rocks Beach) wants to change all references to the Gulf of Mexico in state statutes to the Gulf of America after President Trump renamed the body of water. Insurer of first resort: A bipartisan bill (HB 13) aims to require Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to make windstorm coverage available to all homeowners statewide. How to watch: You can watch the House, Senate and committee hearings online at the Florida Channel. Plus, you can visit to track bills and receive email alerts.
Axios
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Bills we're watching in the 2025 Florida legislative session
Florida lawmakers reconvene on March 4 to kick off this year's legislative session, with bills filed to rename the Gulf in state statutes and to allow guns but not undocumented immigrants on college campuses. Why it matters: There are more than 1,300 bills for the Legislature to wade through, each with the potential to reshape our daily lives. With the dust settled after last month's legislative revolt against Gov. Ron DeSantis, questions about the GOP's unity linger — though, for now, few bills seem likely to put it to the test. Here are a few bills we're monitoring: Gun regulation rollback: State Sen. Randy Fine (R-Melbourne Beach) filed bills to lift the state's age limit on firearm purchases and expand the areas where firearms can be carried, including on college campuses. State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R-Spring Hill), meanwhile, introduced legislation to ban the use of artificial intelligence to detect firearms in public areas; it would be a first-degree misdemeanor to do so. Another immigration crackdown: Fine's bill (SB 244) would prohibit state universities with acceptance rates below 85% from accepting applications from or admitting undocumented students. State Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) filed legislation to revoke the law licenses of undocumented immigrants on Nov. 1, 2028, unless proof of U.S. citizenship is provided on or before that date. State Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Miami) filed a bill to expand E-Verify to all employers, with penalties of up to $10,000 in fines. State Rep. Berny Jacques (R-Seminole) filed a similar bill without the penalties. Gulf of America: State Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R-Indian Rocks Beach) wants to change all references to the Gulf of Mexico in state statutes to the Gulf of America. Insurer of first resort: A bipartisan bill (HB 13) aims to require Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to make windstorm coverage available to all homeowners statewide. How to watch: Looking to keep up with the Legislature? You can watch the House, Senate and committee hearings online at the Florida Channel. Plus, you can visit to track bills and receive email alerts.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Citizens Property Insurance has 'great news' - its business is decreasing
Last year was a record-breaking year for shrinking the size of Florida's insurer of last resort, according to a report that Citizens Property Insurance Corp. committee heard Wednesday, Feb. 26. And that's great news, they were told. Created in 2002, Citizens is not a business the state hopes to grow. In fact, decreasing the number of policies the state-backed insurer carries has long been a goal in order to reduce the state's exposure to losses in a disaster. That's because too many claims could cost every kind of insurance policyholder. Citizens can levy a surcharge on every insurance policy in the state if the catastrophic claims of Citizens' policyholders deplete the nonprofit's reserves too far, as happened after the 2004-2005 hurricane season when a series of the storms hit the state. Wednesday, though, the Market Accountability Advisory Committee heard that the possibility of that reoccurring is dwindling: 2024 was a banner year for moving Citizens' policyholders to the private market so they can be insured by private companies. 'Historically, we have never depopulated so many policies in such a short amount of time, which is further validating the many positive developments we are seeing take place in the Florida property insurance market,' said Jeremy Pope, chief administrative officer for Citizens. Citizens insures the most property of any insurance company in the state and was started as part of reforms instituted as the state's insurance market absorbed the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The number of Citizens policyholders is closely watched because demand for its policies also indicates how much liability the state's private insurers are willing to take on, given the state's vulnerability to devastating storms. The number of policies on Citizens' books hit an 11-year high in September 2023 when several insurance companies stopped insuring properties in Florida or became insolvent. The state Legislature passed new laws from 2019 to 2023 to shore up the wobbly insurance market. And private insurers are responding, Citizens' executives told the committee. After that high of 1.4 million policies in force in 2023, last year ended with slightly more than 936,000 policies underwritten by Citizens. That's about 24% fewer policies than Citizens had at the end of 2023. 'We had 16 carriers that participated in our depop (depopulation) program last year, and that includes five new entrants to the Florida market, which is great news,' Pope said. Not everyone agrees, however, that less Citizens' business is better overall. State Rep. Hillary Cassel, R-Hollywood, has proposed expanding Citizens to every homeowner who wants it, not just those who can't get property insurance anywhere else. It would make it so the liability is more evenly spread throughout the state. The bill has been assigned to committees but has yet to get a hearing. State Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton, who represents Palm Beach County, said fewer Citizens' policies might be an outdated metric for assessing the insurance industry's health in Florida. She pointed to a recent report in the Tampa Bay Times that showed private insurance companies have been siphoning profits to subsidiary companies as they've claimed losses due to catastrophic storms, hurricanes Irma and Michael. 'It may have been a laudable goal at one time to keep Citizens low in policyholders, but I don't think that that is what the goal should be anymore,' Skidmore said. 'I really think the goal should be that there is transparency and accountability on the part of everyone that is in this process.' The number of Citizens' policies ticked up slightly in January as the market continued to digest the results of last year's active hurricane season, which saw hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton hit the state, Citizens' numbers show. Anne Geggis is the insurance reporter at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at ageggis@ support our journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida property insurance: Why Citizens would like fewer customers
CBS News
24-02-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Proposed change to Citizens Insurance could help Miami-Dade, Keys homeowners
A Senate Republican has proposed a change that could lead to more homeowners in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties being eligible for coverage from the state's Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, a Miami-Dade Republican who represents all of Monroe and part of Miami-Dade, filed the proposal on Monday for the legislative session that will start March 4. Under current law, Citizens is barred from selling policies for homes with a "dwelling replacement cost" of $700,000 or more, except in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, where the limit is $1 million. The bill would raise the limit in Miami-Dade and Monroe to $1.5 million. Lawmakers have considered such proposals in the past, pointing to issues such as rising home values and difficulty in finding coverage in Miami-Dade and Monroe. The two counties have had a $1 million cap because state regulators determined they do not have a "reasonable degree of competition" for insurance coverage. The proposal comes as state leaders try to reduce the number of policies in Citizens, which in recent years has become the largest insurer in Florida. Dwelling replacement costs reflect the amount of money that would be required to rebuild homes. They can differ from market values of homes, at least in part because they do not include land values.
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers weigh controversial change to Citizens Insurance with huge implications: 'The price tag is untenable'
Florida House Bill 13 is on the table, and it could dramatically change home insurance policies in the Sunshine State. As reported by Matt Sczesny of WPTV in West Palm Beach, the bill would require Citizens Property Insurance Corp. — a nonprofit insurer created in 2002 to provide insurance to property owners who cannot find coverage in the private market — to provide windstorm coverage to homeowners. Sponsored by Rep. Hillary Cassel, HB13 would make Citizens Insurance available to all property owners in Florida for windstorm damage. While the bill's intent is to provide insurance relief to as many property owners as possible, there is worry about the cost to the state along with the effect on premiums. All this and more could be addressed when lawmakers return to the Capitol in March. Rep. Spencer Roach brought up this proposal, modeled after California's insurance program for natural disaster relief, in February. "It provided insurance for all claims and only claims related to these natural disasters and left the private market to pick up the rest. The result: Rates dropped like a stone," Roach explained. California may or may not be a good model, based on the insurance fallout from the Los Angeles wildfires, but it's clear that homeowners in areas prone to natural disasters are in desperate need of dependable protection. "We would have about $3.2 trillion in insured value," Citizens CEO Tim Cerio told Sczesny during a "Coverage Collapse" special in June. "... The price tag is untenable." This bill could be a game-changer for how residents protect their homes from hurricanes. According to News4Jax, the 2024 hurricane season caused $500 billion in damages across the United States. Florida suffered several billion-dollar weather events, per the National Centers for Environmental Information, including seven severe storms and four tropical hurricanes, three of which made landfall. Warmer ocean temperatures and rising sea levels are making these storms stronger than ever. Per NCEI, 2024 was the warmest year on record, and human activity is at the root of it — more than 75% of the planet's pollution comes from the burning of dirty energy sources such as gas, oil, and coal. What would you do if natural disasters were threatening your home? Move somewhere else Reinforce my home Nothing This is happening already Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Reducing your carbon footprint will contribute to cooling down the planet and decreasing the intensity of storms wreaking havoc on people's lives, their homes, and our Earth. While walking or biking instead of driving and installing solar panels might not seem like a big deal, if we all do our part, it could make a world of difference. A collective effort got us here, and a collective effort can get us out. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
