Insurance worries many at meeting

A full house of curious Cape Coral residents turned out for a town hall aimed at discussing homeowners insurance rates and the outcome of the 2022 special legislative session.

The Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral, along with the city of Cape Coral, held the town hall on June 7.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called lawmakers back to Tallahassee in May to tackle the issue during a special legislative session, signed a law May 26 aimed at helping Florida's property insurance market.

The legislation creates a $2 billion fund to help insurers pay potential hurricane damage claims, adds limits on insurance lawsuits, and permits policies with separate deductibles for roof damage.

Shay Sanchez, resident of Cape Coral, came seeking answers and was mixed about the response from the town hall.

"So I did feel more informed knowing that, OK, they are working for us. There is something that they're doing for us as homeowners to try to level out the playing field for us," Sanchez said.

She had hoped to get more answers on what the new bills said about roof deductibles but was left with questions and said "there was not enough detailed with that part."

"Is there a part of (problem) that's going to be fixed? I think so. But on a majority of the key issues, I think there's still more work to be done," Sanchez said.

Guest panelists included state representatives Mike Giallombardo and Bob Rommel, Brian Chapman, CEO of Chapman Insurance Group, and James Barfield, owner of Barfield Insurance.

Chapman told The News-Press that the No. 1 issue Florida is facing are significant insurance rate increases and that Cape Coral residents are experiencing an average increase of 35%.

Giallombardo told The News-Press the biggest changes the bill brought were litigation reform and $2 billion in reinsurance funds.

He blames lawsuits in the state filed by contractors who attempt to collect money from insurance companies through civil lawsuits after homeowners sign over their assignment of benefits, an agreement that transfers the insurance claim rights and benefits of the policy to a third party.

He also clarified that homeowners can still sue if they are not treated fairly, but contractors can no longer litigate on the homeowner's behalf.

"Florida is responsible for 9% of all the property insurance claims throughout the U.S.," Giallombardo said. "But Florida is responsible for 80% of all the litigation for the United States."

Giallombardo said some parts of the legislation that deal with litigation reform are tied up in court right now, but he will be looking to do more litigation reform.

Sheena Reagan, a resident of 20 years and a Realtor, said she hoped to hear what was put in place to bring relief to homeowners losing their insurance

"What we got was, oh, OK, they can't drop you after your roof is 15 years old. Well, the life expectancy of a roof is 20 to 25 years. I've lived here my entire life, and I've never seen a roof just randomly blow off after 12 years," Reagan said.

She understands the insurance lawsuit situation but said it's the insurance industry's fault and Florida residents are paying for it.

"They're just here to deliver the message not a single one of them can be responsible for the crisis that was had during the insurance roofing scam or any of this," Reagan said. "I just think there are better ways to handle it."

Chapman said the new legislation is a great first step, but there are problems regarding how much they can fix.

Under the new legislation, insurance companies also cannot refuse to write or renew a policy based on the age of a roof if it is less than 15 years old or if an inspection says there are five years of roof usage left.

"So that's great. Sounds good. But the problem is, is the insurance companies are allowed to come up with 100 other reasons they don't want to write it," Chapman said.

He said carriers are required to pass on any money saved from the $2 billion reinsurance funds to the consumers, but he viewed it as a way to keep carriers in business.

"I think right now, in my opinion, they pass that portion of it to keep carriers in business, not for them to have this huge windfall of money," Chapman said.

Rommel said he knew there would be a lot of angry people upset with high rates and canceled policies, but he believes the legislation will help residents.

He said the reforms should attract big insurance carriers and more competition to stabilize the insurance market, but it will take some time to see the effects.

"With the bill that we passed. I believe we're gonna get those carriers," Rommel said. "But I can promise you, things are gonna stabilize."

Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com or 239-266-5604. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.