With the passing of Senate Bill No. 2-A, approved by Governor DeSantis on December 16, 2022, the landscape of Florida’s home insurance industry moving forward has changed overnight. This means that many homeowners are now left wondering what the various changes mean for them as policyholders and for their premiums. The bill is a mixed bag of both positive and negative aspects for a homeowner, and in most cases the nuances would likely be better left for an in-depth conversation with an attorney who can tailor the conversation to your specific situation.
Nonetheless, here are some of the most impactful changes, such as a change in the law requiring a 1-year deadline to report any property damage claim. This will require homeowners to be extremely diligent in their efforts to uncover any damages to their home, and in some cases even the most diligent of homeowners may ultimately have damages they are unable to discover within the 1-year deadline.
Additionally, insurance carriers are now able to issue policies with mandatory arbitration provisions, which if properly done would ultimately take away the homeowners constitutional right to a jury trial. Furthermore, the bill also takes away the rights of homeowners to assign their post-loss benefits of a claim to another person or entity, further limiting a homeowner’s ability to have their home repaired in some instances.
While there are a multitude of other ways the bill may ultimately hurt homeowners, there are also some positives. One of which, is that the bill also will force insurance companies to shine a light on the profitability of insuring properties in the State of Florida. This will hopefully lead to transparency with regard to whether there is any justification for the uptick in premiums of many homeowners throughout the State of Florida.
Ultimately this bill provides additional oversight of insurance companies operating within the State of Florida, which may lead to lower premiums for homeowners, however the bill also undoubtedly sets further constraints on the rights of homeowners to have their claims paid for by their insurer, which may ultimately hurt a homeowner more than any decrease in their premium they may see. It is still too early to tell the full scope of impact this bill will have on the State of Florida and its policyholders, however what remains true is attorneys remains ready and willing to help homeowners across the state of Florida when their claims are wrongfully denied.
Miguel Pedraza, ESQ.
