Revised Flood Insurance Disclosure Heads to Governor’s Desk
Hurricane Irma caused substantial damage from floods or rising water and renewed attention to the coverages and limitations of traditional homeowners’ insurance policies. Although existing Florida law requires a disclosure in homeowners’ policies informing policyholders of their potential need to consider buying flood insurance, the Florida legislature decided to expand this disclosure in the 2018 session.
In HB 1011, the legislature made minor changes to the existing, required law and ordinance disclosure. The legislature then amended the current flood disclosure by striking a reference to the National Flood Insurance Program and in its place emphasizing that traditional homeowners’ policies do not cover flood losses even when hurricane winds and rains cause the floods. The disclosure encourages policyholders to discuss flood insurance with their agents.
As with the current disclosures, the revised disclosures will be required to be made with new and renewal policies and must appear in bold, 18-point type.
If the bill becomes law, the new disclosure requirement will take effect January 1, 2019.