Florida lawmakers passed two bills on the last day of their 2021 legislative session that make major changes to the state’s auto and property insurance markets.
The actions follow weeks of back-and-forth debate on the proposals between the House and Senate chambers.
Stakeholders say neither of the potential new laws will do enough to accomplish lawmakers’ goals of reducing rates or weeding out fraud in their respective insurance industries. Both bills are now headed to Governor Ron DeSantis, who will have to sign them before they can become law.
Senate Bill 76
The bill attempts to address some of the issues plaguing the state’s homeowners insurance market in which insurers lost more than $1.5 billion in last year. It passed Friday in the Senate by a vote of 35 to 5 and 75 to 41 in the House.
The legislation was revised significantly from its original form at the start of the session and includes:
Changing the eligibility, rate glidepath and actuarily sound rate indication for Citizens Property Insurance Corp.