Special session to tackle property insurance

TALLAHASSEE – Following through on his earlier pledge, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday called lawmakers back into special session next month to work on new fixes for the state's troubled property insurance market.

DeSantis set the session for May 23 through May 27, giving the governor and lawmakers at least the appearance of tackling a deepening crisis seen as especially worrisome when the Atlantic hurricane season opens June 1.

The Legislature ended the regular session last month without agreeing on how to address rising homeowners' insurance costs and lack of coverage options. In his session proclamation, he noted almost 400,000 property owners had been driven into the state-run Citizens Property Insurance over the past two years because other insurance companies had left the Florida market.

Citizens is expected to have more than 1 million policies by year's end, DeSantis said.

During the two-month session, the Senate approved legislation aimed at bolstering the insurance market. But the House wouldn't go along with the plan, with House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, urging that a property insurance measure approved last year, directed at blunting insurance fraud, be given more time to work

But the urgency to do something heading into both a hurricane season and an election year is driving the push for action. DeSantis pointed out that three more insurance companies have stopped writing policies in Florida just in the past three months, "leaving tens of thousands of policyholders seeking coverage."

The latest corporate collapses comes on top of an already staggering market, where six companies offering homeowners insurance in Florida had already exited in the past five years.

Weather-related risks always make for insurance challenges in Florida. But home insurance fraud, driven by fraudulent roofing claims that spark costly lawsuits, are putting more pressure on insurers, industry experts say, adding to the turbulence and, ultimately, high costs for homeowners.

Last year's changes by the Legislature haven't had much success yet.

Still, higher costs could well be the result of whatever lawmakers advance during the special session.

The Senate measure, sponsored by Sen. Jim Boyd, a Bradenton Republican who runs an insurance company, could lead to homeowners facing a new deductible for roof-damage claims, totaling 2% of an overall policy limit.

A home insured for $300,000 could leave the homeowner with a new $6,000 deductible to replace a damaged roof.

Concerns about the costs to consumers of such industry-helping steps – which still lacked any guarantee of reducing rates – ultimately sank the legislation in the House this spring.

It isn't immediately clear what ideas could emerge for the May special session. But DeSantis has laid out a broad menu of areas to target, including what he called frivolous lawsuits, reinsurance and state building codes.

DeSantis in his proclamation concluded, "It is prudent to call a special session."

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport.