Citizens Assessment Revision in Hands of Senate
The Florida House of Representatives has advanced HB 1127 by a vote of 89-25, sending it to the Senate for consideration. This is the bill that would decrease the reliance of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation on regular assessments, shifting instead to more of an emergency assessment-based approach. This is a rare bill in which Citizens, the insurance industry, the Office of Insurance Regulation, and the Office of the Insurance Consumer Advocate seemed to agree.
The process of paying and recouping assessments has been time consuming and cumbersome of insurers, and has burdened the Office of Insurance Regulation with a large number of filings. Regular assessments also threaten insurers’ cash flows at a time when they are likely to need the resources for their own claims.
Passing HB 1127 would be a positive step for improving Florida’s insurance market.