Property insurance reform is not a sensational issue by any stretch of the imagination. It is nuanced and many people don’t realize that it directly impacts our pocketbooks and livelihoods as Floridians, regardless of a person owning a home or not.

Florida’s property insurance coverage has reached catastrophic levels where private insurance coverage options are critically low, to the point that Floridians are having to rely on the state-run insurance “company,” Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, in lieu of the private market.

Citizens was originally created in 2002 to provide property insurance to homeowners who were unable to find private insurance coverage. Over the years, Citizens has morphed into one of the largest property insurance providers in the state, and the private market has largely backed out of Florida, no longer willing to take on volatile liabilities that come with the market.

One of the biggest issues with this shift includes coverage after natural disasters, like hurricanes, and flooding, where Citizens will not be able to pay claims at that level of destruction. Citizens was originally created as a last resort for homeowners and has become one of the few remaining options in the state. This is the opposite of a market-based approach and will not work for Florida long term.

The Legislature should consider limiting Citizens to only cover primary residences and allow Citizens to raise rates to keep up with market prices instead of keeping them artificially low. Additionally, the Legislature should find ways to have citizens pull back on the number of policies it holds. The Legislature should further consider allowing insurers to charge separate deductibles for roofs at a reasonable market rate, so companies can keep monthly premiums down. The best way to get the insurance market moving again would be to pull back subsidizing insurance and insert more opportunity for the free market to thrive.

Adding other layers of complication include the need for tort reform in the insurance world. At present, 9% of property insurance claims generate 79% of the nation’s homeowner insurance lawsuits. Lawmakers should continue to work to change systemic civil litigation incentives to allow for meritorious claims while discouraging frivolous claims that often get settled to avoid the costs of litigation. The state should also work to continue reforming high fee award multipliers.

Additionally, soaring insurance costs threaten individual Floridians’ economic well-being. The increase in rates, combined with skyrocketing home prices, threaten individuals’ opportunity to take part in the American dream of homeownership.

Most recently, Gov. Ron DeSantis acted assertively when he called the Florida Legislature to hold a special session and specifically address the property insurance crisis. All Floridians should commend our governor and the Legislature for taking charge and moving the ball down the field. They made major reforms to insurance claims on roofs, they reformed the ability for attorneys to receive fee multipliers and they created a special unit to go after fraud in the industry. We will certainly need to take additional steps to make sure Florida is economically sound and protected, but the steps they took put us in a great position to stabilize the market.

Skylar Zander is state director of Americans for Prosperity-Florida.