Florida Grapples With Its Own Flood Insurance Fix
By Tonya Alanez, Sun Sentinel | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The state legislation is designed to create a competitive, private-insurance market in
"This is really an original idea on how free-market insurance should be bought and sold in
Costs will fall, Brandes said, because homeowners will be able to buy the amount of insurance they can afford, insurers will be taking on less risk and they'll be competing to write flood policies.
Despite
Right now, property owners can buy flood insurance only from the
More than 2 million homes in
Skeptics are doubtful that new insurers would flock to the
"What happens at the state level, it certainly can't hurt," Heidrick said. "But the changes in federal law ... are really what's going to make the difference."
Brandes' bill (SB 542), poised for a final vote on the
That's a sticking point for Rep.
"You now have a damaged house sitting on a good street in a nice community with no repair, no chance of being repaired and unable to sell," Hooper said. "I don't want to start a process where that could start a decline in a street, or a community, or a beach. Nobody likes an eyesore in their community."
Brandes counters that "very, very, very few homes see catastrophic floods." And he notes that homes without mortgages aren't required to carry flood insurance.
Brandes' bill requires coverage to meet federal lending and regulatory standards and that should appease lender concerns, said
"We're supportive of the concept; we're supportive of the bill," DiMarco said. "Hopefully this will help the real estate market, and this will help people stay in their homes."
Even so, insurance companies are not lining up to offer private flood insurance in
Agents would prefer to "stick with the federal program and continue to make that work," he said, adding they are supportive of the reforms being made by
"It is a guaranteed claims payment from the federal government if things go bad," Grady said. "The private market is very undeveloped, it's not stable, and some of the carriers' financial strength is questionable as compared to the federal government."
Thursday's vote in
Brandes said, "18 percent is better than 900 percent. But for the long term for
Despite the differences between the
"We'll figure out how to come to some sort of an agreement," Hooper said. "I don't think we'll leave
[email protected], 954-356-4542 or Twitter @talanez
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