Florida lawmakers convene for 2nd special session this year to address home insurance issues

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida lawmakers are meeting this week at the state Capitol for the second special session this year to try to address issues with the state’s home insurance market.

The state is quickly running out of options as residents are paying the highest rates in the nation –  three times more than the national average – while insurance carriers are fleeing the state.

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The problem brought lawmakers to the Capitol in May and brought them back this week as property insurance in the state is becoming unaffordable for some and unobtainable for others.

The biggest issue during the session will be identical bills HB 1-A and SB 2-A that would make wide-ranging insurance changes. Also, lawmakers will consider bills HB 3-A and SB 4-A that would provide disaster assistance and bills HB 5-A and SB 6-A that would provide credits to motorists who frequently use toll roads.

Read: Pain and no easy fix: Florida prepares to tackle homeowner’s insurance, again

Those bills call for changes to the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance. The changes are designed to force customers off Citizens and back into the open market where they’ll probably pay more, while also requiring flood coverage for those that remain.

There’s also a $1 billion industry bailout on top of a plan to reduce homeowners’ time to make claims from two years to one year as well as changes to litigation, eliminating one-way attorneys, fees, and assignment of benefits.

News Service Florida contributed to this report.

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