RANKING MEMBER FROST INVESTIGATES GOV. DESANTIS AND FL STATE LEGISLATURE'S FAILURE TO PROTECT FLORIDA HOMEOWNERS AND ADDRESS THE PROPERTY INSURANCE CRISIS

The following information was released by the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, Democrats:

This week, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, sent aletter to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Senate President Ben Albritten, Florida Speaker of the House Daniel Perez, Florida Division of Administrative Hearings President Darren Schwartz, and Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky demanding information and a briefing on the decision to subject the more than 840,000 Floridians who rely on Florida's insurer of last resort to arbitration, while private policyholders can litigate their claims in a court of law. Alarmingly, it appears that Citizens policyholders are losing nearly all of their cases in these arbitration proceedings.

Florida's insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Company (Citizens), plays a critical role in providing Floridians with access to homeowners insurance when they would otherwise remain uninsured. However, legislation passed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida's Republican state legislature forces Citizens policyholders appealing claim denials to resolve their disputes through arbitration that seems to set up Floridians to lose.

"Although it is important that Citizens' solvency be maintained, it is also important that Citizens policyholders are able to dispute incorrect or unfair claims decisions,"wrote Ranking Member Frost. "Yet, unlike holders of private insurance policies who can seek to redress such disputes in court in front of juries of their peers, policyholders appealing Citizens' denial of claims are forced to resolve their dispute using arbitration. This is due in part to House Bill 799 that the Florida legislature passed in May 2023."

Many of these cases that constitute the nearly 100% loss rate for Citizens policyholders are Floridians who have suffered severe storm damage to their homes. To make matters worse, Citizens is allowed to collect attorney fees when they win in arbitration, forcing distressed homeowners to pay Citizens' lawyers thousands of dollars out of pocket in addition to repairing the damage to their homes.

Florida's decision to force Citizens policyholders into arbitration takes advantage of working-class Floridians using public insurance, at the same time when Florida's affordable housing crisis is pricing people out of their homes and forcing many Floridians who can't afford to buy homes to rent instead. The passage of HB 799 reflects Governor DeSantis' and the GOP legislature's efforts to push Floridians at the bottom of the earning scale into a housing crisis.

"The 2023 requirement that Citizens policyholders resolve all claims disputes through arbitration harms Citizens policyholders by depriving them of the opportunities that private policyholders have to litigate their claims and appeal if they lose. Such a disparity could have been prevented and should have been discussed in the legislative process,"concluded Ranking Member Frost.

In order to better understand why the State of Florida decided to force a distinct class of distressed homeowners to participate in arbitration when disputing their insurance claims, the Ranking Member requested Governor Ron DeSantis, Senate President Ben Albriten, House Speaker Daniel Perez, Florida Division of Administrative Hearings President Darren Schwartz, and Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky provide documents and communications related to House Bill 799 and mandatory arbitration for Citizens policyholders no later than September 25, 2025.

Clickhere to read the letter to Governor Ron DeSantis, Senate President Ben Albriten, House Speaker Daniel Perez, Florida Division of Administrative Hearings President Darren Schwartz, and Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky.