TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Lawmakers in Tallahassee gathered for a special session Tuesday to discuss extending the My Safe Florida Home Program, which they say could lower property insurance premiums over time.
According to its website, the My Safe Florida Home Program was created to strengthen Florida homes against hurricanes by providing money for improvements, which in turn saves homeowners money.
While property owners who didn’t suffer damage to their homes during Hurricane Idalia won’t feel the direct impact of this new legislation, lawmakers say it could still have an indirect effect on premiums in the future.
The rising cost of property insurance is one of the biggest complaints for families who own homes in the state of Florida, with economists calling it a “statewide crisis”.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, home insurance in Florida is the highest annual premium in the entire United States, averaging more than $6,000 a year in 2022, compared to the average US home premium of $1,700.
“They want meteoric change with the markets, but what we can actually provide is the opportunity for people to invest in their own home and do a two-to-one match in investment in their home,” said Rep. Chip Lamarca.
Lawmakers said the My Safe Florida Home program will help lower insurance premiums in the long run by helping Floridians affected by storms make improvements to protect their homes by helping homeowners upgrade items like their roofing, doors and windows.
The programme was so popular that the state ran out of money, so lawmakers are proposing to approve another $176 million in state funds to reopen the programme and process pending applications.
“This money is to clear the waiting list, this program is so popular that the waiting list has grown so much that we didn’t allocate enough funds, we didn’t know how many people were going to take advantage of this, but we’re thrilled that they did, so we want to make sure that we can fund all the people on the waiting list,” said Representative Jason Shoaf.
According to Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the average participant in the My Safe Florida Home program will see their premiums drop by $1,000 a year.
“After the last hurricane … we want people to rebuild, we want people to get back to their normal lives,” Shoaf said.
The lawmaker said the new legislation is on a fast track to be approved by Governor Ron DeSantis.
“They’re going to have their application processed and we’ve put additional money in there to help them as well, so hopefully this will go a long way and help these folks, especially those in the devastated areas,” said Senator Clay Yarborough.
The Senate is expected to give final approval to the new legislation as early as Wednesday.
The House and Senate bills also provide millions of dollars to fund low-interest or no-interest loans for agricultural producers and millions for timber owners.
