The Florida Senate approved a bill that could limit many homeowners’ roof claims, which some insurers have called a major factor behind the state’s insurance crisis, but the bill’s future in the House chamber is far from certain.
The Senate on Thursday voted 28-11 in favor of Sen. Jim Boyd’s SB 1728, which would allow more policies to pay actual cash value on roofs, instead of full replacement, and would address many other aspects of insurance that supports said are driving up losses and premiums. But with just a week left in the 2022 session, time may be running on the other side of the Capitol.
A similar bill in the House, HB 1307, has passed committees but it differs from SB 1728 in a number of ways. And House Speaker Chris Sprowls, speaking to reporters this week, did not heartily endorse the need for an insurance rescue bill.
“We’re evaluating all the proposals … but I’m also cognizant of the fact that we just passed a very significant insurance bill last session,” Sprowls said, in a video segment on the Florida Channel. “If what has been told to me in the eight years that I’ve been here, from the insurance lobby, is true, that it takes 18 months to see an impact on rates, then we’re not yet seeing the impact” on rates from 2021’s SB 76.
SB 76, signed into law last summer, attempted to limit solicitation by aggressive roofing companies; limited attorney fees and required advance notice of claims lawsuits. But the insurance industry has said more reforms are needed in the long term and the short term, especially after a major property insurer was put into liquidation this week and others have stopped writing new policies.
Boyd said that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the insurance changes are important, according to the Florida Politics news site. But Sprowls said this week that he has not heard from the governor’s office about the insurance reform bills.
“I’m optimistic that (the House will) consider what we’ve done and then we’ll talk about how to fine tune it as we move forward,” Boyd told Florida Politics. “If we do nothing … the market will get worse, rates will continue to go up. We just can’t continue to let that happen to Floridians that we’re here to represent.”
Photo: Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls addresses the chamber.
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