CS/SB 2-D — Property Insurance
by Appropriations Committee and Senator Boyd
The Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders program authorizes a $2 billion dollar reimbursement layer of reinsurance for hurricane losses directly below the mandatory layer of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF). The FHCF mandatory retention is $8.5 billion for the 2022-2023 contract year.
Effective July 1, 2022, the bill appropriates $150 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Financial Services’ My Safe Florida Home Program to provide :
- hurricane mitigation inspections
- matching grants for the performance of hurricane retrofitting on homestead single family homes with a value of $500,000 or less located in the wind-borne debris region set forth in the Florida Building Code.
- The My Safe Florida Home Program, which is administered by the Department of Financial Services, will provide financial incentives for Florida residential property owners to obtain free home inspections that would identify mitigation measures and also provide grants to retrofit such properties, thereby reducing their vulnerability to hurricane damage and helping decrease the cost of residential property insurance.
The bill revises the eligibility criteria for receiving program grants. It:
- Requires that a homeowner who receives a mitigation grant agree to make his or her home available for inspection after the mitigation project is completed.
- Requires that a building permit for initial construction of the home must have been made before January 1, 2008.
- Requires the home to have undergone an acceptable hurricane mitigation inspection after July 1, 2008.
- Grants awarded under the program provide $2 in grant funds for every $1 provided by the homeowner.
- Exceptions are provided for low-income homeowners.
- Applicants may receive up to $10,000 in program money.
The Department of Financial Services must include in the annual report of program activities the average annual amount of insurance premium discounts and the total of such discounts received from insurers.
The bill allocates appropriated funds as follows:
- $25 million for hurricane mitigation inspections.
- $115 million for hurricane mitigation grants.
- $4 million for education and consumer awareness.
- $1 million for public outreach to contractors, real estate brokers, and sales associates.
- $5 million for administrative costs.
https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/BillSummaries/2022D/html/2874