How Critical is Property Insurance in Florida?
The following is a three-part series of commentaries jointly authored by Representative Bryan Nelson and Senator Garrett Richter. Nelson and Richter chair the state banking and insurance committees in their respective chambers.Florida is making big promises on property insurance it probably can’t keep and Floridians will end up paying for it when the storm hits. Florida’s state-run market relies on the trinity of market “stabilizers” known as Citizens, the CAT Fund, and FIGA. Each of these entities, though different, is from the same creator: the state of Florida. This means that should something go awry with one or all of them, you are on the hook as a taxpayer. If this sounds like a major gamble on the backs of Floridians, it is. The facts are unchanging: Florida has more coastal risk than all of the other states from Texas to the Carolinas combined. We can’t move Florida, can’t control the weather, and apparently, can’t control the market to make it viable. Something different needs to be done and it needs to be done soon.
