SB 2036, sponsored by Senator Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton), would allow private insurers to bypass the state’s current rate regulation process and would immunize their policyholders from potentially enormous assessments by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation after a major hurricane. Citizens, a state agency, serves as the largest provider of property insurance in Florida, and current law allows it to levy assessments – “hurricane taxes” – on all property and auto insurance policies in the state should it find itself unable to pay its claims after a storm. These taxes do not require any additional legislative approval.
SB 1950, sponsored by Banking and
Insurance Committee Chairman Garrett Richter (R-Cape Coral) would implement
several changes to
The bill would also provide a
“glide path” to gradually increase Citizens’ artificially suppressed rates to
an actuarially sound level. This would place Citizens in a more stable
financial position and would reduce the need or severity of “hurricane taxes”
after a storm. Part of the rate increase would be directed to the My Safe
Florida Home program, a highly successful mitigation grant program that has
effectively fortified thousands of
Both bills, which must still pass
the full House and Senate, would significantly expand the availability of
property insurance throughout
“A free-market approach is
the only long-term solution to the state's insurance crisis and
these bills take that approach,” said Christian Cámara, Director of the
Competitive Enterprise Institute's Florida Insurance Project. “These proposals
would transfer a substantial portion of hurricane risk away from taxpayers, and
would expand Floridians’ ability to make their own decisions when it
comes to the rates they pay and the companies they buy from.”
CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org.
