JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week that he has “no plans” to call for a special session of the Florida Legislature this year to address a host of ongoing and unresolved issues in the state.
DeSantis previously said he wanted a special session to address immigration issues, but another issue that is on the minds of many Floridians is what some are calling a “property insurance crisis.” The calls for another special session to address Florida’s property insurance are growing louder from homeowners and state representatives, who want lawmakers to find new solutions to lowering the high price of insuring a home.
In 2022, DeSantis called a special session to address property insurance and lawmakers passed a plan they said would stabilize the property insurance market, but critics called it “corporate welfare” for insurance companies and said it didn’t do enough to help homeowners immediately.
While there have been some encouraging signs in the market, many homeowners have told News4JAX they are still seeing skyrocketing premiums.
“It needs to happen,” Rep. Anna Eskamani, Orlando (D), told News4JAX on Wednesday about the need for a special session. “I mean, we have to address the proper insurance crisis. Many of my Republican colleagues had just said, we have to wait and see. And they proclaim that enough reform has been pursued. But that’s just not the reality of it. The past legislative sessions have given the insurance companies everything they want, while not delivering anything directly to consumers.”
Eskamani said the only state program helping Floridians right now, is the state’s My Safe Florida Home Program, which encourages the hardening of your home, leading to property insurance premiums being reduced. Eskamani said Floridians are also experiencing an increase in car insurance as well. She’s worried that this upcoming hurricane season could be a setback for any improvements the state has seen.
“The reality is that Florida is a very high-risk state. And as we see more severe weather patterns, impact Florida, we just, we just are not ready. We’re not braced for impact. At this point, if, God forbid, we have another intense hurricane season, which many meteorologists have already predicted is going to happen, we’re going to see homeowners be in a place of devastation, unable to afford their premiums, some are just going to go uninsured if they don’t have a mortgage, which is incredibly risky,” she said.
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So we want to know: Do you think lawmakers should hold another special session to address Florida’s property insurance crisis? What would you like to see accomplished regarding property insurance?
Tell us in the form below and we might use your comments for a story on Channel 4.
“I wish [Gov. DeSantis] would come see our condos,” Donna Mosher wrote to News4JAX. “We are 1 level with a lot of seniors on fixed income like me. We had to stop our insurance because the HOA went up too high cuz of the insurance and we can’t afford both.”
“A number of friends as well as myself have recently been notified that we are being dropped by our homeowners insurance companies. The options are extremely limited for where to find a new insurer,” another News4JAX reader wrote.