Plus, a new study on small hail damage
A new report shows Florida’s insurance consumer and litigation reforms positively affected the price of reinsurance this hurricane season, Citizens Insurance accuses certain plaintiff lawyers of using “misinformation” in their quest to roll-back those legislative reforms, a new study finds smaller hail may be causing bigger damage to roofs, plus the new set of rules and forms being issued by Florida insurance regulators. It’s all in this week’s Property Insurance News.
Reforms Easing Reinsurance Prices: Gallagher Re has released Florida Tort Reform: A Sunshine Success Story, a deep dive into the 2022 and 2023 consumer and litigation reforms passed by the Florida Legislature. This paper outlines how the reforms can be deemed successful, analyzed through the lens of the June 1, 2025 reinsurance renewal, where the overall risk-adjusted price of reinsurance decreased by 10.7%. That’s noteworthy, given that reinsurance can comprise up to 40% of a homeowners insurance policy cost. It’s just one reason Florida property insurance rates have been decreasing. The report explores why insurance companies and reinsurers are looking again at Florida as an attractive destination for risk capital, and how Florida can serve as a model for reform in other states. Another reason you want to read this report: I was honored to write the Forward!
The Attack on Citizens is an Attack on the Reforms: So said Citizens Property Insurance Corporation President & CEO Tim Cerio to his Board of Governors at its September 24, 2025 meeting. Several news stories, prompted by Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost’s criticism of Citizens’ arbitration program through the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) is “an assault by misinformation being waged by certain plaintiffs’ attorneys and plaintiffs’ groups on Florida’s insurance reforms, including the ability of Citizens to send cases to DOAH and our ability to rely on DOAH to arbitrate claims,” said Cerio. He explained that a recent letter from Congressman Frost on the program contained “factual misstatements” about DOAH. “We haven’t seen anybody take the time to pull the records of a specific case to identify any bias, prejudice or unfairness.”
“Of 124,000 claims so far, only about 1% went to DOAH…and 11% of those go to a final hearing,” said Cerio. “This means that in 89% of the cases, there’s a voluntary resolution by the parties prior to a final hearing…with 37% settled by Citizens in favor of the policyholder.” He also noted the queer irony involved. “The fact is that the conduct of the lawyers who do engage in the fraudulent litigation and the frivolous litigation drove up policyholder premiums and helped create Florida’s insurance crisis. And these voices cannot now be allowed to cry foul and undo all the good work that’s been done simply because they’re not earning the fees that they did prior to the reforms,” said Cerio.
Through its policy depopulation program, Citizens has shifted almost 217,000 policies with over $90 billion of exposure into the private market so far in 2025. It now forecasts an end of year policy count of about 516,000 – representing 7% of the overall market share. Citizens credits the tort reform that was part of the recent legislative reforms. You can read more on the meeting in our full LMA report here.
Photo by carterboy on Freeimages.com
Hail Yes? A new study from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) finds smaller hail may be wearing away our roofs at a faster rate than previously thought. It found that concentrations of “sub-severe hailstones” (less than an inch in diameter) can “significantly reduce the roof cover’s resistance to future large hail events, and exacerbate the natural aging of asphalt shingles.” These smaller hailstorms “may pose a greater threat to roof longevity than previously recognized and is a driving factor in the growing hail risk in the United States that is not accounted for in current durability standards or risk assessments,” the study noted. You can read much more in the Insurance Journal, including reactions from both plaintiff and defense attorneys.
New Rules & Forms: The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has received final approval from the Governor and Cabinet for a series of rule and form changes that we reported in detail in the September 8 newsletter following OIR workshops.
Property Supplemental Report (Rule 69O-137.009 & Form OIR-D0-1185) – The rule and form are actually unchanged from the workshop. This monthly report is renamed “Market Intelligence Report” and there are five new data fields: “Number of lawsuits closed during the month,” “Number of lawsuits closed with consideration for the consumer during the month,” “Number of lawsuits open at beginning of month,” “Number of lawsuits open at end of month,” and “Number of lawsuits opened during the month.” The changes will be finalized by the end of the year unless someone requests a formal rule hearing.
Property Claims Litigation Data Call (Rule 69O-171.011 & Form OIR-B1-2222) – This form is also unchanged from the version at the September workshop, despite insurance company representatives testifying there that they have no way of reporting plaintiff attorney fees when those plaintiff attorneys refuse to share them. So the data in the form relating to that remains unchanged; there are some new data fields and response areas as previously reported. The changes will be finalized by the end of the year unless someone requests a formal rule hearing.
Wind Mitigation Inspection and Discounts (Rule 69O-170.0155 & Form OIR-B1-1802) – The rule has now been changed to allow insurance companies receiving an 1802 inspection form on an active policy to submit a copy to OIR within 60 days of a rate change or 60 days from the effective date of the policy, whichever is later. The workshop version had required companies submit the form within 21 days of receipt. Now that the form is final, OIR will begin working on finishing the discounts schedule (Form 1655) that insurance companies will use to generate the policy discount.
Registration of Insurers (Rule 69O-143.046 & Forms) – As part of the proposed changes to the Holding Company Rule, to comply with the NAIC Model Law, OIR is adding new Group Capital Forms: one for Group Capital Calculation and the other a Liquidity Stress Test. The Rule exempts certain insurance holding company systems from filing the Group Capital Calculation form, which you can read more about in our report from the earlier September workshop.
LMA Newsletter of 10-6-25
