Office of Insurance Regulation provides updates for policyholders following Hurricane Idalia

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Office of Insurance Regulation provided an update to policyholders Tuesday following Hurricane Idalia, including the announcement of the approval of a fifth property insurer to enter the market.

The department issued an emergency order to protect policyholders impacted by Idalia on Sept. 1.

The order extends grace periods for any policy, provision, notice, correspondence, or law that imposes a time limit upon an insured to perform any act until Oct. 31.

It also prohibits the cancellation or nonrenewal of a policy in an impacted area, except at the written request of the policyholder.

Additionally, the order prohibits the cancellation or nonrenewal of a personal residential or commercial residential property insurance policy covering a property repaired as a result of damage from Hurricane Idalia for a period of 90 days after it has been repaired. 

The order applies to all insurers in the state and policyholders in Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Wakulla counties.

The announcements follow a series of actions by Gov. Ron DeSantis to support Florida policyholders when disaster strikes.

“As we begin Hurricane Idalia recovery efforts, OIR remains committed to protecting consumers and increasing options for policyholders in the voluntary market,” Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky said.

Yaworsky said in the coming weeks, the department will work in “overdrive” to both support policyholders in impacted areas and “continue our efforts to promote a robust insurance market for consumers.”

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in a recent interview that Idalia took the “best” path for the state’s insurance market.

“It was a very narrow part of the state, but it was also a very fast moving storm,” Patronis said. “So, fast moving storms don’t have an opportunity to dump as much rain, the flooding has a different effect.”

Patronis said the Florida market with Citizens Property Insurance “swells and grows over the last 10 years” and Citizens was bigger in size in 2010 compared to now. 

Floridians seeking assistance with insurance related questions should contact the Department of Financial Services Consumer Services either by visiting their website, or by calling 1-877-693-5236.

New entities entering the market

The department also approved an additional property and casualty insurer to enter Florida’s market this year.

The company, Orange Insurance Exchange, joins Orion180 Select Insurance Company, Orion180 Insurance Company, Mainsail Insurance Company, and Tailrow Insurance Companies as newly approved property and casualty insurers.

In July, Farmers Insurers announced plans to pull out of certain home policies in the Sunshine State, drawing ire from officials.

A full list of new entities approved to enter the Florida insurance market is available here.

Citizens takeout approvals for 2023

The department also announced that requests by companies to assume Citizen’s policies has increased 500% over the year following the approval of an additional 202,399 requests to assume policies for a November 2023 assumption.

To date, the department has approved a total of 482,399 policies this year.