Florida property insurance is getting more expensive

Florida property insurance is getting more expensive. Status-quo solutions fail homeowners.

America's property coverage crisis is quickly turning into an economic calamity, for individuals and condo and homeowners associations.

Florida is not alone when it comes to property insurance. One in 13 homeowners across the U.S. are uninsured, according to a recent study by the Consumer Federation of America. That's a little more than 6 million people. Forgoing homeowner coverage, known as going bare, is more of a thing than many of our elected officials may want to believe.

"Going bare puts consumers at risk of accruing significant financial debt to repair their homes, having to live with unsafe and inadequate housing conditions, or moving from homeowner to homeless after disaster strikes," the Consumer Federation's study stresses.

Something's got to give. A growing number of homeowners in and out of Florida simply can't afford insurance.

America's property coverage crisis is quickly turning into an economic calamity, for individuals and condo and homeowners associations. Forget high interest rates. How do you obtain a mortgage with sky-high property insurance premiums? It's time for the insurance industry and those elected officials who have dithered with the problem to take some "out-of-the-box ideas" more seriously.

The Florida Legislature had a chance during its most recent session. State Reps. Spencer Roach, R-Fort Myers and Hilary Cassell, D-Dania Beach, offered a bill requiring homeowners obtain property insurance coverage from Citizens Property Insurance instead of private insurance firms. Citizens, they said, would collect premiums and act like the National Flood Insurance Program, leaving the private insurers to cover fire, theft and other property damage.

Granted, the idea didn't get far. However, the fact that the legislation received a half hour of discussion during a committee hearing should be seen as a breakthrough. For years, state lawmakers have been content to follow the industry's lead in berating lawsuits and fraud as property insurance premiums continued to rise. Of late, the state has implemented home-hardening programs and even a modest tax cut — baby steps at best. They also threw the industry a bone by making it harder for consumers to sue them, as if that treat would ever be returned in kind with rate reductions.

The Federation study shows the precariousness of today's insurance market and urges better data on access to coverage and on coverage gaps, to help our elected officials come up with better policies to help homeowners. The problem, a big concern here in Florida, is a national one and needs far more attention than it has received.

— Palm Beach Post