Florida Senate calls emergency insurance session

North America

The Florida state senate is to meet in a special session on January 16, 2007 to address the shortage of the property insurance cover in the state after many insurers either withdrew from the windstorm insurance market or significantly increased their premiums after the devastation caused by hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. The senate will consider proposals to make it more difficult for insurers to refuse to write or renew windstorm policies thereby forcing householders to obtain cover from the state funded insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Indeed, the demand for cover was such that, in April this year, the senate voted to increase Citizens’ capital by $700mn. Another proposal under consideration by the Florida senate is to make it easier for commercial primary insurers operating in the state to obtain reinsurance cover from the state supported Hurricane Catastrophe Fund due to the significantly increased cost of such cover in the commercial reinsurance and retrocession markets.