Hurricane insurance change will benefit nonprofits
To the editor:
The Florida Legislature recently took important first steps to returning our property insurance market back to a healthy state. The passage of HB 1495 will not only help to protect Floridians statewide, but Florida businesses including nonprofits as well.
Putting the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe (CAT) Fund and Citizens Property Insurance Corporation on a sounder financial footing is the responsible thing to do. While the bill passed last week will increase Citizens’ policy rates, we believe this is necessary to protect nonprofits from having to pay the “hurricane taxes” that would continue to be added to our property and automobile policies in the wake of a major storm.
For several years, we have been paying additional assessments on our insurance premiums to subsidize the state’s government insurance entities and their policy holders. This “hurricane tax” money should have been used to help maintain the community programs and support we currently have in place for those less fortunate. If we experience a large hurricane, this tax on churches and charities would increase, as the CAT Fund relies on post-event borrowing. Throughout the 2009 legislative session, we worked with other concerned groups throughout the state, who believed that implementing a long-term strategy was necessary to stabilizing the state’s property insurance market. While we support the bill as passed, we believe the legislature missed an opportunity by not providing funding for the home-strengthening, My Safe Florida Home program, as mitigation helps reduce the state’s exposure to catastrophic damage and will help reduce insurance premiums. HB 1495 is a good bill and we are thankful House and Senate members passed this bill to begin reducing the risk associated with the CAT Fund and Citizens Property Insurance. We urge Gov. Crist to sign this important bill into law to protect our great state and the organizations who work to make a difference in the lives of so many Floridians
Dennis Baxley,
Executive Director,
Christian Coalition of Florida