Florida’s economy is booming — but across the state, seniors living on fixed incomes are at risk of losing their homes over skyrocketing insurance costs. Others who lost everything in fierce and deadly storms had to battle with their insurance companies for what’s rightfully theirs.

Imagine the added panic of your insurer abandoning ship and leaving the state. This grim reality is playing out for thousands of Floridians struggling because of our state’s ongoing property insurance crisis.

In recent years, property insurance costs have massively increased for homes of all kinds — rural ranch houses, suburban bungalows, coastal condos and everything in between. Adding to the burden, Florida has become America’s inflation hotspot because of outsized housing costs. This didn’t happen overnight — and the state hasn’t done enough to protect Floridians grappling with soaring insurance costs, unaffordable premiums and the growing uncertainty of coverage.

As leader of the Florida Senate Democrats, I, alongside Leader Pro Tem Jason Pizzo, hosted a series of virtual town hall meetings this summer to offer real-time support for Floridians in crisis. Joined by experts, including Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, Citizens Property Insurance CEO Tim Cerio, former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and former Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Shaw, we answered questions live and discussed innovative solutions to this crisis, which has been brewing for at least a decade.