The Florida Legislature passed a bill April 24 that gives state residents more affordable options for flood insurance.
SB1094, Flood Insurance, authored by State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and State Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole, passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. The bill passed earlier in the Senate with unanimous support. The bill now goes to Gov. Rick Scott to be signed into law.
“This bill gives Floridians an affordable option that may keep them in their homes, and empowers homeowners to take control of their flood insurance,” said Brandes. “Washington has held our homeowners hostage with drastic rate increases, but this legislation shows that Florida is committed to private market flood insurance reform.”
“This bill builds on what we passed last year and continues to make the marketplace attractive to all insurance companies which will result in lower premiums,” said Ahern. “This outside the box type of legislation challenges the status quo to the benefit of our constituents.”
The legislation expands options available under the “customized” insurance policies authorized by SB542 in the 2014 Session, sponsored by Brandes and Ahern.
Under the expanded options, policyholders will be able to choose the amount of coverage they would like to have on their property, such as reducing coverage down to the value of their mortgage or excluding coverage for contents of their structure.
The proposal also encourages new and existing developments through coastal elements of growth management plans to adopt engineering best practices that mitigate flood risk.
