Plus, readying for hurricane season
State insurance and emergency management officials travel Florida to spread timely tips to residents as we begin a new hurricane season, Commissioner Yaworsky says the condominium insurance market is improving as he releases an updated Catastrophe Reporting Form for companies, his regulators hold more workshops on wind mitigation discounts and on expanded requirements for surplus lines carriers, plus the health of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund going into the hurricane season. It’s all in this week’s Property Insurance News.
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia (center) and Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie (second from right) on the hurricane preparedness tour, May 26, 2026. Courtesy, DFS
Preparedness Tour: The third major hurricane prediction service – NOAA itself – concurs that the Atlantic Hurricane Season that begins today and runs through November 30 will be “below normal” in terms of storm frequency. It essentially mirrors previous forecasts from AccuWeather and Colorado State University. NOAA warns however, that it doesn’t mean you don’t prepare nonetheless. That was the message that Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie brought to his tour around the state last week with Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia. “You cannot control the path or direction of a hurricane; however, you can control how prepared you are when the storm arrives,” Guthrie advised during Thursday’s stop in Ft. Lauderdale. “Do not wait until the last minute to be prepared. This can make all the difference when a hurricane shifts towards your region.” More advice & handy prep checklists here and here.
High-rise condominium buildings in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Courtesy: Fiery Trippers
Condos & Cat Reporting Forms: Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky says the number of condo association writers for wind-only policies has grown from one writer to five in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties alone. He credits the legislature’s consumer insurance and litigation reforms of 2022 and 2023. “Before reforms, Citizens was primarily the only writer in some coastal counties. Now, there is more competition, with data showing the highest number of condo association writers in the last 15 years,” Yaworsky said in a recent news release touting three new property insurance companies in the market, growing profitability, and continued rate decrease filings. He also released an updated Catastrophe Reporting Form for insurance companies to use in reporting storm claims this hurricane season.
Cat Fund Ready, Too: The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which provides lower-cost reinsurance to Florida property insurance companies is “in a strong position for the upcoming season,” according to their chief financial consultant at Raymond James, which manages its investment portfolio. The Cat Fund Board at its recent meeting learned it has more than $14 billion to cover claims this hurricane season, even better than what it had this time last year, due in part to lower than expected losses from 2022’s Hurricane Ian.
OIR Wind Mitigation Workshop: The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) held another workshop on May 19 on its next step in implementing the legislatively-mandated reevaluation of wind mitigation discount credits on Florida property insurance policies. The workshop was well-attended by insurance companies and associations, who commented on the significant costs involved in compliance – in both time and money – with the updated rule and data call form. Alternative approaches were shared, including a potential legislative remedy and further delaying implementation. OIR also answered some questions. You can read more in our full LMA Report.
OIR Surplus Lines Workshop & Growth: As we reported in a previous newsletter, OIR is proposing to include surplus lines insurance companies to the entities required to file monthly Market Intelligence Reports. Last Wednesday (May 27) OIR held a workshop to hear from those companies about its proposed rule – with one OIR official afterward calling it “a very lively discussion.” Key concerns were expressed, including an extrapolated total industry cost of compliance of approximately $6 million to $7 million annually. OIR’s reason for this new requirement “is to ensure Commissioner Yaworsky’s intent to make sure that we are obtaining a complete, holistic picture of the market,” said Deputy Insurance Commissioner for Property & Casualty Jane Nelson. You can read more in our full LMA Report. The workshop comes on the heels of a new report that the cost of a surplus lines homeowners’ policy in Florida is now about the same as an admitted carrier policy. The Florida Surplus Lines Service Office said the average premium for its market’s HO-3 policy fell below $3,500 in April, a new low, on the approximately 21,300 policies written.
LMA Newsletter of 6-1-26
