House, Senate differ on insurance fixes (Citizens Property Insurance Corp.)

With homeowners seeing double-digit rate increases and policies pouring into the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., many lawmakers say changes are needed in Florida’s property-insurance system.

But the House and Senate appear to be staking out different positions about how far those changes should go.

A House panel Wednesday took up a proposal that would allow larger rate increases for Citizens customers and place additional restrictions on claims and lawsuits against property insurers. But the measure is far more modest than a Senate bill that would allow insurers to limit payments to customers who sustain roof damage and take aim at fees paid to attorneys who represent policyholders.

The House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee signed off Wednesday on the House proposal, which was an amendment that scaled back a property-insurance bill (HB 305) sponsored by Naples Republican Rep. Bob Rommel. For procedural reasons, the panel cannot vote on the revised bill until its next meeting.

Read more: https://floridapolitics.com/archives/412895-house-senate-differ-on-insurance-fixes