After a triple whammy of hurricanes Debbie, Helena and Milton hit the state, Florida residents are working to rebuild. But for many, it raises questions about property insurance — ranging from how they can get their claims paid to what to do if they don't have it.
Shonda Palmer lives in Perry, Florida. Not only was the town hit by Hurricane Idalia last year, but its mill – the main source of livelihood there – closed. This year, Hurricanes Debbie and then Helena hit the area. Palmer does not have property insurance, which she says is too expensive for many of the people who live there.
“No one does in Perry,” she said, “because, like I said, the main sources of money there are closed, and like all of us little people, we don't have enough money to have homeowner's insurance. This is outrageous!”
Palmer is on the phone while driving home to Perry after Hurricane Helena. She says she got her home through her family.
“Mine was passed down, so I have and most people have,” she said. “They've been passed down or owned by their families for years and they've grown into them and things like that.”
Experts say the higher number of uninsured homes in rural areas like Perry often means slower recovery times after storms. But Palmer is confident the community can do it.
“Everybody loves Perry, who's from there,” Palmer said. “I was born there, I grew up there… They will all come together, they will all come together and restore everything that needs to be done. So it doesn't matter, we can be targeted for however long and everyone will always recover. They're not going anywhere.”
Even for those with insurance, recovery is still a long way off.
As of Thursday, the state Office of Insurance Regulation reported insurance claims for Milton nearly 200,000 and $2.3 billion in expected insured losses. For Helene, losses are estimated at $1.3 billion. And for Hurricane Debbie, it's $131 million.
State insurance officials issued orders to protect policyholders affected by hurricanes Helena and Milton. They apply to all insurers in the state and policyholders in most counties. The order extends grace periods for any policy, regulation, notice, correspondence, or law that imposes a time limit.
And prohibits the cancellation or non-renewal of a policy in an affected area except at the written request of the policyholder. Meanwhile, the state's so-called insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance, says it remains in good shape.
“We're here for our policyholders, we're in good financial shape and we'll be there when they need us,” said Michael Peltier, a spokesman for Citizens Property Insurance.
The company currently has more than 1.2 million policyholders, but Peltier says Citizens has the financial resources to handle claims, including Milton's.
State-backed Citizens was set up in a way that will always work because the insurer can put a surcharge on the insurance policies of most Floridians to help cover its costs.
“If we exhaust our reserves, our reinsurance coverage and other protections — the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, for example — we are required to first impose surcharges on our policyholders,” he said. “And if there is still a deficit, then we are required to impose assessments on all insurance consumers in Florida – or most of them, anyway.” Cars, boats, property owners and things like that.
Peltier says that while Citizens will always be able to pay out claims, the larger it gets, the more it will be at risk of having to impose assessments not only on its own policyholders, but also on Florida insurance consumers , who aren't even Citizens policyholders.
“Our board of governors, our CEO, the governor and others are trying to do the best they can to minimize the risk that we will have to do this,” Peltier said.
Citizens Property Insurance works to reduce the number of people who depend on government insurance. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature have made efforts to stabilize Florida's insurance market, in part by reducing the ability to file claims. But it's unclear whether these changes are having an impact.