Gov. Rick Scott wants to know why residents of Florida should continue to subsidize property insurance for ritzy homes built in high-risk areas.
Told that Citizens Property Insurance is woefully overexposed, Scott told reporters after the Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the insurance program needs to be fixed.
Lets make a decision; ifall of us believe that it makes economic sense that if someone wants to build a home in an area that it is difficult or impossible to get insurance, should be we subsidizing that? Scott said.
Citizens Property Insurance currently has 1.5 million customers, exposing the state to $500 billion in potential claims.
However, state Cabinet members were told Tuesday that Citizens, established as the insurer of last resort, has only $11 billion on hand for property owners if a disaster strikes.
Citizens board chairman, Carlos Lacasa, said legislative action is needed to reduce the liability cap, just one of the potential options to revamp the program that has grown more reliant upon non-Citizens customers to keep the rates low for its customers.
A proposal being considered would drop coverage on homes of $1 million or more that are located in high-impact areas.
Customers may also be asked to sign a notice that they understand they may be hit with a big assessment.
Scott wondered if people truly understand the risk they are taking, because if they cant make insurance payments, homeowners are putting their mortgage at risk.
I want to make sure when they say they read that form, do they really understand if they have a policy that costs $2,300 that you have a risk of a $1,200 assessment, he said. I dont know how many families in our state have $1,200? I know growing up, my family didnt have $1,200 in the bank.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 215-9889.
