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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to property insurance for wind and 2
flood; amending s. 627.062, F.S.; requiring 3
residential property insurance rate filings to account 4
for windstorm mitigation measures undertaken by 5
policyholders; amending s. 627.0629, F.S.; requiring 6
wind uplift prevention to be included in windstorm 7
damage mitigation techniques for residential property 8
insurance rate filings; amending s. 627.351, F.S.; 9
revising flood insurance coverage requirements for 10
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation; creating s. 11
627.7155, F.S.; requiring property insurers to verify 12
coverage for the peril of flood in certain 13
circumstances; prohibiting issuance of coverage for 14
the peril of wind in certain circumstances; requiring 15
an acknowledgement; specifying a type of acceptable 16
proof of coverage; providing an appropriation; 17
requiring a wind-loss mitigation study conducted by 18
the Office of Insurance Regulation; providing 19
requirements for the study; providing reporting 20
requirements; providing effective dates. 21
22
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 23
24
Section 1. Paragraph (j) of subsection (2) of section 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
627.062, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 26
627.062 Rate standards.— 27
(2) As to all such classes of insurance: 28
(j) With respect to residential property insurance rate 29
filings, the rate filing must account for mitigation measures 30
undertaken by policyholders to reduce hurricane losses and 31
windstorm losses. 32
33
The provisions of this subsection do not apply to workers' 34
compensation, employer's liability insurance, and motor vehicle 35
insurance. 36
Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 627.0629, Florida 37
Statutes, is amended to read: 38
627.0629 Residential propert y insurance; rate filings. — 39
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature that insurers 40
provide savings to consumers who install or implement windstorm 41
damage mitigation techniques, alterations, or solutions to their 42
properties to prevent windstorm losses. A r ate filing for 43
residential property insurance must include actuarially 44
reasonable discounts, credits, or other rate differentials, or 45
appropriate reductions in deductibles, for properties on which 46
fixtures or construction techniques demonstrated to reduce the 47
amount of loss in a windstorm have been installed or 48
implemented. The fixtures or construction techniques must 49
include, but are not limited to, fixtures or construction 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
techniques that enhance wind uplift prevention, roof strength, 51
roof covering perfor mance, roof-to-wall strength, wall-to-floor-52
to-foundation strength, opening protection, and window, door, 53
and skylight strength. Credits, discounts, or other rate 54
differentials, or appropriate reductions in deductibles, for 55
fixtures and construction techni ques that meet the minimum 56
requirements of the Florida Building Code must be included in 57
the rate filing. The office shall determine the discounts, 58
credits, other rate differentials, and appropriate reductions in 59
deductibles that reflect the full actuarial value of such 60
revaluation, which may be used by insurers in rate filings. 61
Section 3. Effective upon becoming a law, paragraph (aa) 62
of subsection (6) of section 627.351, Florida Statutes, is 63
amended to read: 64
627.351 Insurance risk apportionment plans .— 65
(6) CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION. — 66
(aa) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the 67
corporation shall require the securing and maintaining of flood 68
insurance as a condition of coverage of a personal lines 69
residential risk. The ins ured or applicant must execute a form 70
approved by the office affirming that flood insurance is not 71
provided by the corporation and that if flood insurance is not 72
secured by the applicant or insured from an insurer other than 73
the corporation and in addition to coverage by the corporation, 74
the risk will not be eligible for coverage by the corporation. 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
The corporation may deny coverage of a personal lines 76
residential risk to an applicant or insured who refuses to 77
secure and maintain flood insurance. The requir ement to purchase 78
flood insurance shall be implemented as follows: 79
1. Except as provided in subparagraphs 2. and 3., all 80
personal lines residential policyholders must have flood 81
coverage in place for policies effective on or after: 82
a. January 1, 2024, for a structure or unit that has a 83
dwelling replacement cost of property valued at $600,000 or 84
more. 85
b. January 1, 2025, for a structure or unit that has a 86
dwelling replacement cost of property valued at $500,000 or 87
more. 88
c. January 1, 2026, for a structure or unit that has a 89
dwelling replacement cost of property valued at $400,000 or 90
more. 91
d. January 1, 2027, for all other personal lines 92
residential property insured by the corporation. 93
2. All personal lines residential policyho lders whose 94
property insured by the corporation is located within the 95
special flood hazard area defined by the Federal Emergency 96
Management Agency must have flood coverage in place: 97
a. At the time of initial policy issuance for all new 98
personal lines residential policies issued by the corporation on 99
or after April 1, 2023. 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
b. By the time of the policy renewal for all personal 101
lines residential policies renewing on or after July 1, 2023. 102
3. Policyholders whose policies issued by the corporation 103
do not provide coverage for the peril of wind are not required 104
to purchase flood insurance as a condition for maintaining their 105
policies with the corporation. 106
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The flood insurance required under this paragraph must meet, at 108
a minimum, the coverage available from the National Flood 109
Insurance Program or the requirements of subparagraphs s. 110
627.715(1)(a)1., 2., and 3. 111
Section 4. Effective October 1, 2023, section 627.7155, 112
Florida Statutes, is created to read: 113
627.7155 Wind and flood coverage in residential and 114
commercial property insurance policies .—For residential and 115
commercial property insurance policies issued or renewed on or 116
after October 1, 2023: 117
(1) If a residential or commercial property insurer 118
requires that an insured or applicant have coverage for the 119
peril of flood when the insurer issues a policy covering the 120
peril of wind, the insurer must verify that the insured or 121
applicant has coverage for the peril of flood at the time the 122
policy is issued or renewed. If the insurer fails to verify that 123
the insured or applicant has coverage for the peril of flood, 124
the insurer may not issue or renew a policy containing coverage 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
for the peril of wind. Before issuance of coverage for the peril 126
of wind under this subsection and upon verification of coverage 127
for the peril of flood, the insurer must obtain a written 128
acknowledgment from the insured or applicant that the insured or 129
applicant understands that the policy covering the peril of wind 130
requires that coverage for the peril of flood must be maintained 131
by the insured or applicant. 132
(2) In addition to coverage for the peril of flood 133
directly secured by the insured or applicant, a master flood 134
policy that is issued to someone other than the insured or 135
applicant and that includes the insured or applicant as an 136
intended or third-party beneficiary under the master flood 137
policy is acceptable proof of coverage for the peril of flood 138
for the purposes of this section. 139
Section 5. For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the nonrecurring 140
sum of $750,000 from the Insurance Regula tory Trust Fund is 141
appropriated to the Office of Insurance Regulation to 142
competitively procure a wind -loss mitigation study. The office, 143
in consultation with the Department of Business and Professional 144
Regulation and the Florida Building Commission, shall conduct a 145
residential wind-loss mitigation study to evaluate the windstorm 146
loss relativities for construction features, including, but not 147
limited to, those that enhance roof strength; roof covering 148
performance; roof-to-wall strength; wall-to-floor-to-foundation 149
strength; opening protections; and window, door, and skylight 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
strength. The study must include single -family and multifamily 151
homes, mobile homes, and manufactured housing. In addition, the 152
study must include, but need not be limited to, an analysis of 153
developed hurricane loss data for hurricanes since June 1, 2018. 154
The office may use a portion of the funds appropriated to 155
contract separately with building code experts in order to 156
implement this act and adopt rules. The findings of the study 157
shall be reported to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 158
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Financial 159
Officer, and the Commissioner of Insurance Regulation no later 160
than July 1, 2024. 161
Section 6. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 162
act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon 163
this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect July 1, 164
2023. 165