By Hans Kennon
I recently got back from a trip above the Arctic Circle, where I finally saw the Northern Lights. It was surreal — darkness, ice, silence, and then waves of green and purple light across the sky.
But coming back to Florida reality was even more jarring.
Because while the world feels vast and mysterious up there, the insurance situation here feels increasingly small, frustrating, and predictable.
We are in the middle of another Florida legislative session. And once again, it looks like nothing meaningful is going to happen for homeowners.
No appetite for reform
Senate President Ben Albritton has already indicated that major insurance changes are unlikely this year. In some ways that is a relief. For as long as we have been doing this work, every time lawmakers “fix” insurance, they somehow find a new way to make things worse for consumers.
But the downside is obvious: nothing is getting better either.
Premiums remain extremely high. Coverage keeps shrinking. And policyholders continue losing rights.
Citizens became the biggest insurer — and that should never have happened
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation was meant to be the insurer of last resort. Instead, it ballooned to around 1.3 million policies — becoming the largest insurer in Florida.
Why?
Because private carriers raised premiums dramatically while Citizens was capped by law on annual increases. Consumers naturally fled to the cheaper option.
But Citizens policies often contain serious limitations. Some require homeowners to use preferred contractor networks or accept capped payouts — sometimes as little as $10,000 — even when damages are far greater.
People think they have full coverage. They don’t realize the limitations until they file a claim.
Policy erosion is happening quietly
One of the biggest problems today is automatic renewals.
Policies are renewed with new limitations buried deep in endorsements. Water damage caps appear on page 51. Roof schedules reduce payouts based on age. Matching provisions disappear. Appraisal rights get restricted.
Many agents don’t fully understand what they are selling. Many homeowners never read the policy.
The result is predictable: a flooded home with hundreds of thousands in damage and only $10,000 in coverage.
And the homeowner finds out after the loss.
Price fixing and contractor networks are becoming the norm
Insurers are increasingly dictating who can perform repairs and how much they will pay.
They obtain “comparative estimates” from contractors who never intend to do the work and then cap payments based on those numbers. Even Exactimate — the estimating software insurers helped create — is often ignored if someone will do the job cheaper.
Network contractors face the same problem. They perform repairs and then struggle to get paid, sometimes resorting to liens to force payment.
If insurers treat their own preferred vendors this way, imagine how they treat out-of-network contractors.
Replacement cost is becoming harder to obtain
Florida law historically required replacement cost value under standard HO-3 policies. But newer policies include roof surface schedules and depreciation mechanisms that effectively prevent full recovery.
To challenge these provisions today requires extensive litigation. With attorney’s fees protections largely removed, many cases simply cannot be pursued.
That leaves homeowners accepting inadequate settlements because the cost of fighting is too high.
Mortgage companies remain silent
This is one of the most baffling aspects of the current crisis.
If claims are underpaid and homes are not restored properly, lenders ultimately inherit damaged collateral. You would expect banks and mortgage servicers to push back aggressively.
So far, they have not.
Perhaps the financial consequences have not hit them hard enough yet. But they will.
Claims handling is deteriorating
We are seeing denials issued without inspections. Third-floor water damage attributed to “groundwater.” Mold claims dismissed because adjusters believe mold takes 30 days to grow.
Some letters even state that damage cannot be covered because the insurer cannot determine the cause. That is not how coverage works. If an insurer cannot identify an exclusion, coverage should apply.
But many homeowners accept denial letters out of fear — fear of nonrenewal, fear of confrontation, fear of losing their insurance entirely.
By the time they seek help, deadlines have passed.
Supplemental claims still matter
For example, homeowners with Hurricane Milton claims still have time to supplement if they were underpaid or denied. Florida law provides an 18-month window from the date of loss.
But they need to act before that window closes.
Waiting until the last day rarely ends well.
Public adjusters are filling a growing gap
As policies become more restrictive and claims more contested, representation has become critical.
Public adjusters review policies, document damage, prepare detailed estimates, negotiate settlements, and meet with carrier experts. Most work on contingency — meaning they are only paid if additional funds are recovered.
In many cases, settlements increase significantly because line-item disputes are properly documented and argued.
Without representation, many homeowners simply accept the first offer.
Insurance is becoming something people are afraid to use
Perhaps the strangest shift is psychological.
People pay enormous premiums but hesitate to file claims. They fear being dropped. They fear retaliation. They fear the system.
If insurance cannot be used when damage exceeds the deductible, what is the purpose of having it?
At some point, consumers begin self-insuring by default.
Even experienced lawyers struggle to interpret policies
Modern policies are layered with endorsements that override earlier language. You can read the coverage section and believe you are protected — only to discover later that an endorsement deleted that protection.
Terms like “inherent vice” remain in policies despite adjusters themselves being unable to define them.
The complexity is not accidental.
The system is shifting risk onto homeowners
Today’s Florida insurance environment increasingly shifts repair risk, litigation risk, and financial risk onto the insured.
Coverage is narrower. Claims are harder. Representation is weaker. Enforcement is limited.
And while small premium reductions are occasionally announced, they follow enormous increases that consumers are still absorbing.
Final thought
The most important step homeowners can take now is proactive.
Read the policy.
Understand endorsements.
Know your deductibles and caps.
Seek professional review before a loss occurs.
Because once damage happens, discovering what is not covered is the worst possible time to learn.