Florida Insurance Update
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hiOn the next to last day of the 2008 session of the Florida Legislature, lawmakers amended a major insurance bill to include two almost identical windstorm rating disclosures. The first required the rating to be disclosed to purchasers of homes that are 1) located in the windborne debris region, 2) insured by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, and 3) have an insured value of $500,000 or more. This disclosure was repealed by the 2009 Florida Legislature and never went into effect.
The second disclosure becomes effective in Jan. 1, 2011, and requires it to be given to purchasers of homes in the windborne debris region. As part of that disclosure, buyer would receive the home’s hurricane resistance rating, three separate improvement plans that a homeowner may use to harden the home, including the cost of each plan (at the end of the My Safe Florida Home program, the three plans averaged $3,000 to $7,000), and information about insurance premium discounts.
Realtors say the new disclosure, if not repealed, will stigmatize virtually all applicable properties since most homes haven’t been hardened. It will add significant costs to each transaction as buyers reduce their purchase offer after they receive the windstorm disclosure, much as they sometimes do now when they receive a less-than-satisfactory home inspection report.
The disclosure, if not repealed, creates even more problems. It makes an inspection virtually mandatory for listed homes, for example, in order to get the disclosure information. Currently, nothing else mandates an inspection at the time of sale