Florida House passes two bills related to home

Lawmakers addressing Florida’s home insurance crisis are making progress. The House passed two bills related to home insurance reform Wednesday. Those bills were passed Tuesday by the Senate.As Florida gets closer to the start of another hurricane season, state lawmakers are trying to avoid a catastrophe that many consider to be manmade.”I believe there’s going to be a lot of work for us to do but it’s a very good start. We do need to encourage the capital markets to come back to Florida so they can compete for your premium dollars,” Republican Rep. Tom Fabricio, District 103, said.Just this year, three insurance companies were forced into liquidation, forcing thousands of homeowners to find insurance in Florida’s complicated market. Homeowners are paying more for coverage or ending up at last resort Citizen’s insurance.The special session bills won’t provide immediate relief for homeowners, but will provide more protections for roofs that are 15 years old or older.The state’s uniquely complicated and pricey property insurance market was front and center for the special session in Tallahassee this week.The Florida House of Representatives gathered on the third day of the session to discuss home insurance changes, many of which would take at least 18 months for homeowners to see some potential relief. “It is difficult for us to create programs in the legislature that are going to make substantial changes tomorrow,” State Rep. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama, said. “Just like there are long tails in claims for hurricanes as an example and when you can bring a claim, it takes some time.”The two bills that would offer roof deductibles for homeowners and make sure insurance companies can’t deny coverage for roofs that are less than 15 years old.If they’re older than that, insurers can’t deny you coverage in certain cases if an inspector determines the roof still has useful years.”The bill that was passed today, while I do think it does quite a lot of good, it was incomplete in terms of full solutions that we needed,” Democratic Rep. Fentrice Driskell, District 63, said.Some homeowners would also be eligible for grant money to fix up their homes and make them stronger.It also sets aside $2 billion for reinsurance.“The insurance crisis and also the Surfside issue. These are two issues that we couldn’t quite come together on in the regular session, so I’m glad the governor took the leadership to bring the house and senate together,” Rep. Scott Plakon said.Critics say it didn’t do enough to help policyholders or deal with the rising numbers of homeowners who are ending up with last resort option, Citizens. “Some of your constituents have had their property insurance go up double, sometimes triple. What would you say to the folks back in Central Florida who say this is not doing enough to relieve them?” WESH 2’s Sheldon Dutes asked Rep. Anna Eskamani.“We’re frustrated by the fact that influence of the insurance companies and lobbyists have dictated the direction of this bill. It more seems like a bailout than actually direct relief for Florida families,” Eskamani said.Lawmakers from both parties say more needs to be done, but this week was a step in the right direction.Industry analysts and lawmakers admit, regardless of any changes that got voted on this week, it will be a while before homeowners see their rates and premiums go down. It will be at least another year and a half or so before homeowners could potentially start to see some relief. Now that both the House and Senate approved these bills, they’ll now head to the governor. Related: Florida’s frustrating home insurance situation stands as barrier to buying for manyWESH 2 Investigates: Central Florida residents stunned by soaring home insurance premiumsRelated: Florida property insurance company goes under, leaving policyholders scramblingRelated: $600 million fund available to help Florida residents struggling to save their homes

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