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Legislature Tries to Fix Condo Insurance Law Again

Legislature Tries to Fix Condo Insurance Law Again

The Florida Legislature incorporated changes to the condominium insurance law into a broader bill dealing with condominium issues.  The legislature passed similar changes in 2009, but Governor Crist vetoed the bill for unrelated reasons.  Insurers again in 2010 will have to await the Governor’s action on the broader bill to see if the much anticipated reforms will take effect.

The bill would add a new section to the insurance code governing loss assessment coverage.  The minimum loss assessment coverage amount of $2000 would remain unchanged, but there are new details regarding the coverage.  Among these, insurers would be able to apply a deductible of up to $250 only if a unit owner did not otherwise pay a deductible for direct loss to the unit.  In addition, the bill clarifies that insureds cannot increase the amount of their coverage post-loss and will receive only their single loss assessment limits regardless of the number of association assessments arising from the same event.

The bill would eliminate a provision of current law essentially allowing condominium association to force-place coverage on unit owners and charge the costs to those unit owners.  The bill further eliminates a current law requiring associations to be listed as additional insureds and loss payees under unit owners’ policies.

These and other changes are referenced in the attached summary.