Florida Democratic Senators Host Facebook Town Halls on Continuing Insurance Crisis

Two Florida Democratic state senators are hosting webinars this month and next on the state’s property insurance situation.

“Homeowners Insurance 101: A Guide for Insurance Coverage,” a series of virtual town hall meetings, began Wednesday on the Florida Senate Democratic Caucus’ Facebook page. The first session will be broadcast through Aug. 22 with a second set for Aug. 17, a local news site reported.

State Sens. Lauren Book, D-Davie, and Jason Pizzo, D-Miami, spoke at the first meeting and addressed the continuing crisis in Florida, that has seen property insurance premiums spike and several insurers stop writing business in the state.

“Jason. Homeowner. Want to know why the hell my rates are so high and why it’s so hard to place insurance,” Pizzo said in the session. He said the meetings would look at “shenanigans” and will talk through basic issues in Florida property insurance.

Former state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Paul Handerhan, president of the Federal Association for Insurance Reform, an advocacy group, also spoke in the webinar this week. Handerhan noted that despite recent reform measures taken by the Florida Legislature, property insurance premiums are unlikely to drop in coming years.

Florida’s “risk exposure profile is some of the highest, not in the country, but in the world,” Handerhan said. “I don’t foresee a future where reinsurance rates or primary insurance rates dramatically dip. I do think we’re going to get to a period where the market kind of stabilizes over the next year or two. But the amount you’re paying right now is probably going to be pretty consistent with what you’ll continue to pay in the future.”