Florida Senate - 2025 SB 790 By Senator Bradley 6-00538A-25 2025790__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to policy cancellations and 3 nonrenewals by property insurers; amending s. 4 627.4133, F.S.; prohibiting insurers from canceling or 5 nonrenewing, within certain timeframes, policies 6 covering personal residential or commercial 7 residential properties damaged by hurricanes or wind 8 losses; providing that such prohibition applies to 9 flood damages caused by hurricanes under certain 10 circumstances; providing that an insurer may not 11 cancel personal residential or commercial residential 12 property insurance policies until certain repairs are 13 made or a specified policy renewal expires; 14 prohibiting certain claims for loss or damage from 15 being covered under an extended or renewed policy; 16 specifying that such loss or damage is excluded from 17 the extended or renewed policy; providing 18 applicability; revising exceptions; authorizing the 19 Commissioner of Insurance Regulation to waive certain 20 provisions; providing construction; deleting 21 applicability; revising construction; requiring that 22 certain policies contain similar terms under certain 23 circumstances; amending s. 627.7011, F.S.; requiring 24 homeowners policy insurers to give specified 25 notifications to policyholders; requiring that such 26 notice be mailed and, under certain circumstances, e 27 mailed; specifying exceptions to notification 28 requirements; providing an effective date. 29 30 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 31 32 Section 1.Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section 33 627.4133, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 34 627.4133Notice of cancellation, nonrenewal, or renewal 35 premium. 36 (2)With respect to any personal lines or commercial 37 residential property insurance policy, including, but not 38 limited to, any homeowner, mobile home owner, farmowner, 39 condominium association, condominium unit owner, apartment 40 building, or other policy covering a residential structure or 41 its contents: 42 (e)1.An authorized insurer may not cancel or nonrenew a 43 personal residential or commercial residential property 44 insurance policy covering a dwelling or residential property 45 located in this state: 46 a.For a period of 90 days after the dwelling or 47 residential property has been repaired, if such property has 48 been damaged as a result of a hurricane or wind loss that is the 49 subject of the declaration of emergency pursuant to s. 252.36 50 and the filing of an order by the Commissioner of Insurance 51 Regulation. Damage under this sub-subparagraph includes flood 52 damage caused by a hurricane if flood is a covered peril under 53 the personal residential or commercial residential property 54 insurance policy. If flood is not a covered peril under the 55 personal residential or commercial residential property 56 insurance policy and the property has been damaged as a result 57 of flood caused by a hurricane, an insurer may not cancel or 58 nonrenew the personal residential or commercial residential 59 property insurance policy until the earlier of when the property 60 has been repaired or the expiration of one subsequent renewal of 61 the policy that was in force at the time of loss or damage. If 62 an insurer is required to extend or renew a policy pursuant to 63 this sub-subparagraph, any claim for loss or damage arising from 64 unrepaired flood damage caused by a hurricane may not be covered 65 under the extended or renewed policy. Such loss or damage is 66 excluded from the extended or renewed policy regardless of any 67 other cause or event that contributes concurrently or in any 68 sequence to the loss or damage. When flood is not a covered 69 peril under the personal residential or commercial residential 70 property insurance policy, the requirements under this sub 71 subparagraph to extend or renew the policy do not apply if the 72 insurer has no actual knowledge of the flood damage or if the 73 flood damage, along with the physical evidence of such damage, 74 is not communicated to the insurer before the expiration of the 75 policy. 76 b.Until the earlier of when the dwelling or residential 77 property has been repaired or 1 year after the insurer issues 78 the final claim payment, if such property was damaged by any 79 covered peril and sub-subparagraph a. does not apply. 80 2.The restrictions on cancellation and nonrenewal in sub 81 subparagraph b. are not applicable to loss or damage to the 82 insured property that is valued at less than the applicable 83 deductible for a personal residential property insurance policy 84 or less than the applicable deductible for a commercial 85 residential insurance policy. 86 3.However, an insurer or agent may cancel or nonrenew such 87 a policy before prior to the repair of the dwelling or 88 residential property: 89 a.Upon 10 days notice: 90 (I)For nonpayment of premium; or 91 (II)If the named insured no longer has an insurable 92 interest in the property; or 93 b.Upon 45 days notice: 94 (I)For a material misstatement or fraud related to the 95 claim; 96 (II)If the insurer determines that the insured has 97 unreasonably caused a delay in the repair of the dwelling; or 98 (III)If, after the expiration of the declaration of 99 emergency pursuant to s. 252.36 and the order by the 100 Commissioner of Insurance Regulation, the insurer has made a 101 reasonable written inquiry to the insured as to the status of 102 the repairs and the insured has failed to respond within 30 103 calendar days to provide information that is responsive to the 104 inquiry, including the reasons for any delay in completing 105 repairs, to the address or e-mail account designated by the 106 insurer or its agent; or 107 (IV)If the insurer has paid policy limits for a loss or 108 damage to the insured dwelling under a personal residential 109 policy, or policy limits for a loss or damage to each insured 110 structure that was damaged under a commercial residential 111 policy. 112 4.3.If the insurer elects to nonrenew a policy covering a 113 property that has been damaged, the insurer must shall provide 114 at least 90 days notice to the insured that the insurer intends 115 to nonrenew the policy 90 days after the dwelling or residential 116 property has been repaired. Nothing in This paragraph does not 117 shall prevent the insurer from canceling or nonrenewing the 118 policy 90 days after the repairs are complete for the same 119 reasons the insurer would otherwise have canceled or nonrenewed 120 the policy but for the limitations of subparagraph 1. The 121 Financial Services Commission may adopt rules, and the 122 Commissioner of Insurance Regulation may issue orders, necessary 123 to implement this paragraph. The Commissioner of Insurance 124 Regulation may also waive any provision of this paragraph upon 125 approval of a petition filed by an insurer requesting relief due 126 to solvency concerns or other factors that could harm 127 policyholders if the provisions of this paragraph were enforced 128 upon the insurer. 129 5.4.This paragraph is not intended to revise or modify any 130 provision of an emergency order issued by the office before July 131 1, 2025 shall also apply to personal residential and commercial 132 residential policies covering property that was damaged as the 133 result of Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole. 134 6.5.For purposes of this paragraph: 135 a.A structure is deemed to be repaired: 136 (I)When substantially completed and restored to the extent 137 that it is insurable by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation 138 or by another authorized insurer writing policies in this state; 139 or 140 (II)When one of the following persons has inspected and 141 certified or attested to the completion of the repairs: 142 (A)A home inspector licensed under s. 468.8314; 143 (B)A building code inspector certified under s. 468.607; 144 (C)A general, building, or residential contractor licensed 145 under s. 489.111; 146 (D)A professional engineer licensed under s. 471.015; or 147 (E)A professional architect licensed under s. 481.213. 148 b.The term insurer means an authorized insurer. 149 c.If a policy is extended or renewed to comply with this 150 paragraph or with any other provision of the Commissioner of 151 Insurance Regulations order, the policy must contain policy 152 terms similar to the policy being extended or renewed unless the 153 insurer has updated approved forms that will apply to all 154 insureds with the same endorsement. However, this sub 155 subparagraph does not impact current law with regard to the 156 rates insurers may charge for policies extended or renewed under 157 this paragraph. 158 7.This paragraph does not affect s. 95.11 or s. 627.70132. 159 Section 2.Subsection (7) is added to section 627.7011, 160 Florida Statutes, to read: 161 627.7011Homeowners policies; offer of replacement cost 162 coverage and law and ordinance coverage. 163 (7)Any insurer delivering or issuing a homeowners 164 insurance policy shall give the policyholder at least 45 days 165 advance written notice of cancellation, nonrenewal, or rate 166 change. Such notice must be mailed to the policyholders last 167 address as shown by the records of the insurer and, if an e-mail 168 address has been provided, e-mailed to the last e-mail address 169 on record. However, if cancellation is for nonpayment of 170 premium, at least 10 days written notice must be given, 171 accompanied by the reason. Written notice of cancellation for 172 nonpayment of premium is not required for homeowners insurance 173 policies under which premiums are payable monthly. 174 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.