Current Solutions to the Homeowners Insurance Crisis 

Although there is still much to be done about the coastal home and homeowners’ insurance crisis in Florida, there have been several legislations already that have tried to help the issue. Several bills have been signed by the Governor in order to help stabilize the problems with the home insurance market. Since contractors have made fraudulent claims on homes that have cost insurance companies a significant amount of money, Senate Bill 76 was created to help put a stop to these contractors by making them give notice to any homeowner if they execute any repairs on a home. By stopping some of these practices by contractors, fraud claims have gone down.

          Another program that is helping this crisis is the My Safe Florida Home Program, created and extended by Senate Bill 881, that offers homeowners free wind mitigation inspections that help people and homeowners learn how to better protect their homes while also saving money. This means that people can learn how to strengthen their homes for oncoming hurricanes so that they will face less damage. It also recommends home improvements to homeowners. A new bill may also be introduced that will add millions of more dollars to the program in order to help it grow.

Another bill created to help solve the issue is Senate Bill 2D. This bill distributed two million dollars to a reinsurance fund in order for multiple insurance companies to share the risk. This leads to one company being less likely to fall. One hundred and fifty million dollars was also handed to the My Safe Florida Home Program mentioned earlier. The bill also requires that homeowners be more informed about claim denials. It also stops insurance companies from denying coverage on a roof based on its age, although if the roof is older than fifteen years old, it may still be denied coverage. House Bill 799 modifies flood coverage requirements for the different types of properties.

The multiple legislations passed have certainly helped with the issue of coastal living, but much more can be done. By voting on more laws that make home building codes stronger, both homeowners and insurance companies will suffer less. Requiring homes to be protected in a certain way by specific building codes and requirements is the only solution for safe and happy living on the coast.