EDITORIAL: When will insurance reform help us?

The Florida Legislature made its move in 2022 to bring some relief to besieged homeowners whose insurance policies were nearly doubling in price.

Hurricanes and the abandonment of Florida by some of the nation's major companies and the escalating cost of reinsurance — what insurance companies pay to help cover their losses — left Floridians with limited options and big premiums.

Lawmakers took a stab at fixing the problem. Some claim the changes actually did more to help insurance companies than policyholders. Some of the new legislation made it much more difficult to sue insurance companies if you felt they weren't giving you a settlement that would cover your losses.

Despite that, there has been some progress.

More insurance companies have decided to take on Florida as a risk — even after a three-hurricane year like 2024.

And, Citizens Insurance, which saw its policy holdings jump to higher numbers than were feasible, has been able to shed thousands of policies and give the state, which covers Citizens losses as its insurer of last resort, some breathing room.

After Hurricane Ian, a flood of homeowners rushed to Citizens and as of last summer, the state-owned company had 1.412 million policies.

That number is down to just more than 900,000 and falling each day.

So give the Legislature some credit.

But, lawmakers need to do much more. Hopefully this session will see some more progress to lower premiums that continue to escalate and threaten to drive some people — especially seniors on a fixed income who are living in their forever home that has seen its value double — out of the state.

Figures recently published in the South Florida Sun Sentinel showed local insurance premiums, on the average, rising steadily.

Charlotte County's rates were up 45.9% — going up from an average of $2,202 in March 2022 to $3,212 in September of 2024.Sarasota County saw rates climb about 45.4% — from $2,469 in March 2022 to $3,590 in September 2024.DeSoto County's rates followed the same path, up 48.5% from $2,285 in March 2022 to $3,393 in September 2024.

That might be a bargain, however when you look at Monroe County, whose rates are the highest in Florida.

Monroe's rates up up from $6,729 on average in that time frame to $9,058.

Insurers, according to information in the Sun-Sentinel, blame the rate hikes partly on inflation and the cost or rebuilding and refurbishing homes that suffered hurricane damage.

Historically, the east coast of Florida was always a target for hurricanes, but that seems to have changed.

Our Gulf Coast and the Panhandle have taken the biggest punch in the past few years — especially since 2000.

From 2000 to the present, as of 2023, 79 tropical or subtropical cyclones have hit Florida, causing more than $236 billion in damage, most of it from Hurricane Ian. And, 15 hurricanes or tropical storms have landed on the Gulf Coast since 2017 while only four have threatened — but not landed — on the east coast.

Those figures came before Milton which will challenge Ian for the most destructive storm.

Lawmakers could come up with a lot of ideas — not all of them popular. Forcing setbacks from the water is one trick that would not go over well. It would be likely futile anyway since almost all of Florida's coastline is built out.

Enforcing stronger building codes might be a tool we could use. Codes got tougher in most counties after Hurricane Charley and that helped some.

Requiring people who make the decision to build closer to the water pay an extra fee might discourage some of the high-priced building near the ocean and Gulf.

However, there might really be no permanent solution as long as the Gulf gets warmer and hurricanes get stronger. It's Florida and we will have hurricanes.

Still, lawmakers should consider any ideas, outside-the-box or otherwise, to bring some relief to strapped policy holders.