Legislative Updates

Florida's HB 939 (2024) strengthens consumer protections by requiring insurers provide clear, advance notice of policy changes, aiming for transparency and better consumer awareness. For example, “Notice of Change in Policy Terms” must be in bold and 14-point font size. Insurers have until Jan. 1, 2025, to comply.

Under the current My Safe Florida Home program, single-family homeowners apply for a free hurricane mitigation inspection and up to $10,000 in grants to fortify their homes against storms and help reduce insurance rates.

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HB 1029 (2024) expands the program to include condo associations, for condos located within 15 miles of the coast. The pilot program seeks to improve condo safety and resiliency in response to increasing hurricane threats. Lawmakers agreed to allocate $30M for the pilot program. Individual condo owners cannot apply; applications must be made by the condo association, and the association must match a portion of the grant money received.

HB 1503 (2024) makes several changes regarding Citizens, the state-run insurer of last resort, with a focus on aiding depopulation efforts to move more of its policies into the private marketplace.


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Notably, the bill allows surplus lines carriers to take policies for second homes out of Citizens. These insurers are not traditionally licensed (admitted) by the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Regulation, and thus are not bound by state regulations. They typically are used to insure risky properties.


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Primary residences and properties with a homestead exemption are not eligible for removal from Citizens by a surplus lines carrier.

HB 1611 (2024), requested by Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), covers several different property insurance topics, including:

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• Cancellations/Nonrenewals – prohibits surplus lines insurers from canceling or nonrenewing residential policies until 90 days after hurricane/wind damage is repaired, after the declaration of a state of emergency. Also, the OIR's parent agency (Financial Services Commission) is authorized to regulate how insurers provide notice of their plans to nonrenew more than 10,000 policies in a 12-month period.
• QUASR Reporting – increases the frequency of QUASR reporting by insurers to the OIR, from quarterly to monthly, and requires data be reported by ZIP code instead of by county.
• Hurricane Modeling – requires uniform application by insurers of hurricane model averaging throughout Florida.
Reciprocal Exchanges – positions reciprocal insurance exchanges under the regulatory authority of the OIR, which can perform market conduct examinations of the exchange's management entity.
• Reciprocal Exchanges – positions reciprocal insurance exchanges under the regulatory authority of the OIR, which can perform market conduct examinations of the exchange's management entity.
• Roof Inspections – adds roofing contractors to the list of authorized inspectors allowed to determine a roof's useful life.

SB 7028 (2024) appropriates an additional $200M for the wildly popular home-fortifying My Safe Florida Home program to help owners of single-family homes improve their home’s ability to withstand hurricanes. It also prioritizes who can receive free inspections and up to $10,000 in grants (and when) – ensuring program benefits go to homeowners who need it most.
Applications will once again be accepted starting

July 1, 2024, according to the following schedule:


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July 1-15: low-income homeowners (age 60+)


July 16-30: low-income homeowners (any age)


July 31-Aug 14: moderate-income homeowners (age 60+)


Aug. 15-29: moderate-income homeowners (any age)


Aug. 31: all other eligible homeowners


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SB 7028 also prohibits waiting lists; once available grant funding is depleted, new applications will no longer be accepted.
The program was originally created in 2006. It was relaunched in 2022 with $115M in funding. In June 2023, an additional $100M was added to the program, which funds ran out in October 2023. In November 2023, lawmakers approved $176M to fund the backlog of applicants.

For a limited time – from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025 – insurance companies are required to lower homeowners property insurance premiums, pursuant to HB 7073 (2024). This reduction is balanced by allowing insurers to offset their own premium tax obligations with the reductions provided to homeowners. If an insurer's tax savings aren't enough to cover the total premium reductions, the state will compensate the difference from General Revenue.


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This initiative is designed to make home insurance more affordable for Florida residents by decreasing annual insurance costs through a tax-incentive approach for insurers.

Assignment of Benefits (AOBs) are no longer available on policies issued on or after January 1, 2023. AOBs increased costs when policyholders would sign over their rights to a contractor who might fail to do the required work – burdening homeowners with additional expenses – and instead pursued litigation with insurers.

This law repeals the so-called “one-way” attorney fee provisions. Now, each party is responsible for their own attorney fees in property insurance lawsuits in Florida.

This expedites claim resolution, including shorter timelines for payment (within 60 days), communication (within 7 days), investigation (within 7 days) and inspection (within 30 days, and it now includes hurricane claims). This also allows electronic methods for damage investigation and requires timely adjuster's reports.

Policyholders receiving renewal or take-out offers within 20% of their Citizens premium are ineligible for coverage by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida’s state-backed insurer of last resort. This applies to renewals made after April 1, 2023, and take-outs offers made after January 1, 2023. Citizens residential policyholders must obtain flood insurance, with phased-in requirements.

This provision shortens the reporting period to 1 year for new or reopened claims and 18 months for supplemental claims, aiming to reduce the number of fraudulent claims filed near the deadline.

Established for the 2023 hurricane season, the Florida Optional Reinsurance Assistance (FORA) program offers insurance companies optional hurricane reinsurance at reasonable/near-market rates. The program aims to reduce the need for premium increases due to rising reinsurance costs.

Consumers/Policyholders can now apply for money to help harden and protect their home, if their home was built prior to 2008. The State will match $2 for every $1 the insured spends with a max stat payout of $10k to those who qualify.

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Mitigation devices may make the home eligible for mitigation discounts to help manage insurance premiums, while protecting their home and family in the event of a storm.

The insured is responsible for the payment of their deductible.



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Policyholders should be on the lookout for contractors who offer to pay their deductible or include it in their estimate, as the contractor is committing a felony by doing this and policyholders are committing a felony by allowing it to happen.



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Wording reflecting consumer/policyholder deductibles should be on all advertisements from roofers, contractors, and PA’s. It is important to make certain policyholders do not fall victim to this inducement, as they can be held accountable by allowing this to happen.

Carriers must conduct any physical property inspection related to a claim within 45 days of receiving proof of loss statements. This does not apply to hurricane claims.

Carriers must provide a reasonable explanation of the claim decision in accordance with the policy, facts, and law to the policyholder. In the event a claim payment is made and is less than the insurer’s adjuster estimate, the carrier must explain the discrepancy

A carrier may recover attorney fees and costs associated with securing a dismissal without prejudice, if the plaintiff's attorney fails to provide the required Notice of Intent to Initiate Litigation at least 10 days prior to filing a suit against a property insurer.