Miami, Fla. – The Florida Legislature has approved, and Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a bill aimed at the state’s property insurance crisis in which lawsuits are driving up premiums and insurance companies are failing to settle homeowners’ claims.

Some companies have left the state in recent years – and left homeowners without coverage for property damage caused by hurricanes, tropical storms or excessive flooding due to torrential downpours.

Previous law allowed homeowners to sue insurance companies who refused to honor claims, and to have their court costs reimbursed if they win.

The new legislation no longer requires the companies to pay litigation fees, and cuts the claims process from 30 to 60 days.

Homeowners must have flood insurance coverage and limits people from state-backed insurance company Citizens.

But the bill doesn’t cap insurance premiums for people who can’t afford increasing rates, and required flood insurance coverage now increases the costs.

During a special session last week in Tallahassee, lawmakers voted 84-33 along party lines to pass the bill following three days of debate. Republicans said the legislation will resolve the crisis.

Democrats said it provides scant relief especially for minority homeowners; that the bill simply protects companies from lawsuits, including giving homeowners even less time to file their claims.

Financially struggling minority homeowners could still be unable to afford the premiums, and may lose their homes or have to sell and move to another state. Most mortgage lenders require insurance; noncompliant homeowners can be sent into default and foreclosure.

“We can’t stop the weather, but we can address the cost of reinsurance, we can stop the fraud, we can tighten up the regulations, and we can address court decisions,” said Republican Rep. Tom Leek, the House bill sponsor. “The first thing that we have to do is we have to stop frivolous litigation.”

Rep. Dotie Joseph, Democratic from North Miami, proposed offering immediate help for people facing high premium increases by freezing insurance rates for one year. “We have the money,” Joseph said. “I’m not saying don’t help the insurance companies. But can we do something for the people of Florida too?”

Lawmakers rejected her amendment request 84-32.

According to a report, in 2022, Florida homeowners already were struggling to replace dropped policies or pay premiums, with a swelling number of them relying on the Citizens Property Insurance Company as the last resort.

Lawmakers were to tackle the crisis during a May special session. Hurricane Ian intervened in September and the crisis continued mounting. Ian caused an estimated $70 billion in property damage, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) said more than 358,000 homeowners have filed claims from Hurricane Ian as of Nov. 30. The OIR also reported about 95,000 claims closed without payment, and more than half of total claims closed in general.

Homeowners left struggling over insurance claim payouts can’t afford to repair their properties. A lot of homeowners who were left homeless the hurricane need the insurance payouts to fix their homes deemed unsafe. Some have been forced to live with relatives. Others are staying at shelters provided by the American Red Cross.

"You pay your insurance and you expect to get that back, especially when you’ve never had a claim in almost 30 years we’ve lived in that home," Lee County homeowner Teresa Hall told lawmakers during the special session "I’m flabbergasted. Really I just think it’s so upsetting,” Lee said. “It makes it hard for me to sleep at night. When are we ever going to get back in our home?"

Insurance companies say the problem stems from lawsuits that keep piling up when claims are rejected.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, a research organization financed by the industry, average annual premiums have risen to more than $4,200 in Florida, which is three times more than the national average. The industry reportedly has seen two straight years of net underwriting losses exceeding $1 billion in Florida.

Loopholes in state law, including fee multipliers that allow attorneys to collect higher fees for property insurance cases, have made Florida an excessively litigious state, an institute spokesperson said.

The new legislation would remove “one-way” attorney fees for property insurance, which require insurers to pay the attorney fees of policyholders who successfully sue over claims, while shielding policyholders from paying insurers’ attorney fees when they lose.

The new bill includes $1 billion in taxpayer funds for a program to provide carriers with hurricane reinsurance, which is coverage bought to help ensure they can pay out claims.

The lack of immediate relief, however, continues drawing criticism that the majority Republican Legislature and DeSantis prioritized giving insurance companies what they wanted.

“Floridians are losing yet again,” said Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa). I worry for our neighbors on fixed incomes. How many people are going to lose their homes before this ‘trickle down’ plan offers any relief? I’m worried about Florida’s retirees. This bill definitely wasn’t written to help them.”

Driskell said Democrats “tried to provide a balanced approach, with direct relief to homeowners and aid to the industry in crisis, but we were ignored. Floridians deserve property insurance that is affordable, available, and accountable,” and “relief from paying the highest property insurance premiums in the country.”

"Too many Florida families have felt the pain of our unstable property insurance market, facing skyrocketing annual rates and the sudden cancellations of longstanding policies," said MiamiDade Mayor Danilla Levine Cava. "This month’s special session was the ideal opportunity to tackle these issues headon and provide meaningful relief to struggling homeowners.

"Unfortunately, the property insurance package legislators just passed does not provide the reform we need to bring down the cost of insurance, expand the number of insurers in the Florida market, or protect policyholders. Rather than bringing down Florida insurance rates, already the highest in the country, three times the national average, this package will only serve to increase premiums for Florida homeowners while providing even fewer consumer protections."

Florida “has no shortage of issues that need to be addressed," said state Sen. Shervin Jones, a Miami Democratic. "Rather than us dealing with the real issues that’s affecting everyday people’s lives, like homeowners insurance, the housing affordability crisis, and the list goes on, my colleagues are creating fake issues that are neither bringing relief or enhancing the lives of the everyday Floridian."

Joseph said state lawmakers also have ignored insurance companies’ practice of moving profits to affiliate companies, which has been directly blamed for numerous past company failures, allowing some executives to make multimillion dollar salaries while driving up customers’ premiums.

While insurance companies are highly regulated, with caps on profits, many of the small Florida-based insurers that dominate the market create affiliate companies that charge the insurance companies fees for services. That percentage is tied to policyholder rates, so as rates go up, so does the fee. Once the premium leaves the insurer, it’s no longer available to pay claims.

"Shifting funds to sister companies hurts Florida," Joseph said. "I proposed an amendment to review the managed general agents scheme that enables profit shifting to related companies while claiming insolvency in the company at issue or granting exorbitant executive bonuses. Also tried to address fraud in the appraisal process, but my GOP colleagues rejected these common sense fixes."