Atlantic Insurance Advisors LLC

Replacing your older roof will save you a lot of $ on your renewal premium NOT last years cost, renewal premiums are skyrocketing and, to help keep it at last years (or a bit less) price consider age of roof.

Last Friday, Governor DeSantis signed the boldest property insurance bill we have seen in Florida's history! Senate Bill 2A is a huge positive step for all Floridians as it included reforms that will help aid the Florida’s property insurance market. We look forward to the positive affects this bill will have on our industry and for Florida consumers.

The Bill addresses a wide variety of topics including:

• Attorney Fee Regulation - eliminates one-way attorney fees in suits arising in property insurance.

• Assignment of Benefits (AOB) Elimination– eliminates ability to execute an AOB for all property insurance policies.

• Bad Faith Settlement & Acceptance Revision– requires a breach of contract before a policyholder can sue a property insurer for settlement-related bad faith.

• Notice of Claim Reduction– reduces the time limit for providing notice of a loss to a property insurer from two years to one year for initial or reopened claims and from three years to 18 months for supplemental claims.

• Claims Investigation and Prompt Payments – changes the prompt pay statute to encourage property insurers to settle claims in a timely manner.

• Citizens Property Insurance – changes many of the previous requirements for new business and renewals making the eligibility for a Citizens policy more stringent.

Florida’s legislature passed a bill that would create a state-backed reinsurance fund and attempt to ease litigation costs that have pushed a homeowners insurance market already contending with monstrous storms toward the brink.
The bill passed in the Florida House of Representatives by a vote of 84 to 33 on Dec. 14, 2022, after the Senate approved the legislation the day prior, according to the Florida Senate’s website. The votes took place during a special session called by Governor Ron DeSantis in part to address the impact of Hurricane Ian on an insurance market that was already stumbling.
Larger insurers have spent years reducing their exposure to the state as litigation costs rose and the severity and frequency of hurricanes intensified, leaving smaller firms that mostly focus on Florida dominating the market and homeowners facing soaring premiums. Seven of those smaller carriers have gone insolvent in the past two years, according to a statement from the office of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.
One of the proposed changes would repeal the state’s “one-way” policy on attorneys fees for property claims. It requires insurers to cover the cost of litigation on behalf of plaintiffs who sue them successfully, but doesn’t force policyholders to cover such costs for their insurer if they lose.
Another measure would eliminate a rule that allows property insurance policyholders to sign away their right to collect payments to another party, such as a contractor or plumber. That’s led to “unnecessary litigation,” according to the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation.
“There is still some additional work that needs to be done, but this at least puts us on a path that we can survive,” Brandes said. “This should bring new capital to the market and I think it will ultimately create lower rates and more competition.”