MIAMI – Florida’s special session begins Monday and lawmakers are focused on property insurance and property tax relief in the wake of the hurricane season.
As of Sunday, there are still no specific bills for the session, but the priorities are clear -- how to stop runaway costs of insuring yours and every property in this state.
Lawmakers are working to find a solution on how to make property insurance both affordable and even available.
“I don’t think anyone is safe,” Republican State Rep. Daniel Perez said. “I think everyone’s gonna get looked at. You’re talking about attorneys, yes. You’re talking about insurance companies, too. You’re talking about public adjusters, and you’re talking about the consumer.”
It’s a complicated puzzle with some headlines for next week:
1: Keeping insurers here and in business -- half a dozen already failed or bailed -- by providing them more reinsurance.
“We have to look at capitalization of some of these insurance companies,” Democratic State Sen. Jason Pizzo said. “They’re able to open up with $15 million -- open up a shop and carry all kinds of exposure that they really, in good faith, cannot pay if there really is a catastrophic event.”
2: Lawsuits and attorneys’ fees.
“I think the repealing of one-way attorneys fees is going to be a tremendous step in the right direction,” Republican State. Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez represents Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys - some of the priciest insurance in the state.
She describes companies offering free new roofs to homeowners, courtesy of their insurance.
“Your roof may have hidden damage, and they may owe you $100,000 for a brand-new roof,” an advertisement on Facebook states.
“There is no such thing as a free roof, by the way,” she said. “It involves tremendous litigation and what not, and that’s really what drives up cost of insurance for all Floridians.”
Lawmakers expect blowback from insurers, attorneys, adjusters and property owners.
They know failure is not an option.
Lawmakers are already framing expectations. No matter what they do, seeing relief will take some time.