Florida HOA Lawyer Blog
The firm’s latest Miami Herald “Real Estate Counselor” column authored by Nicole R. Kurtz appears in today’s Neighbors section and is titled “Federal and State Reforms Necessary to Address Florida’s Residential Insurance Woes.” It focuses on the precarious state of Florida’s home insurance market, which will be the subject of a special session by the state legislature this week. Nicole’s article reads:
. . . An article by the Miami Herald’s Ben Conarck recently chronicled how the horrific Champlain Towers collapse “has further inflamed an exodus of insurers no longer willing to underwrite policies in an increasingly risky Florida condo marketplace.” It noted that condominium associations are being forced to resort to the surplus market for less coverage at costlier rates.
“Condo associations are having a hard time getting their pre-Surfside policies renewed, forced instead to sift through estimates for less protective plans that cost twice as much, or higher. Those lucky enough to renew their policies are doing so at 30% to 50% premium increases,” according to Conarck’s expert sources.
They also indicate “[s]piraling costs and tighter restrictions in both the insurance and lending industries have led to a new fear that some particularly troubled condo buildings will be uninsurable. Companies are going to be demanding inspection and financial records — and even meeting minutes — to determine how much risk is in any given building.”
Indeed, some analysts are predicting that the state’s residential insurance market is nearing a total collapse. They point to the six property and casualty companies that offered homeowners insurance in the state but have liquidated since 2017, with two more that are in the liquidation process this year.
