In Special Session in December, 2022 the Florida Legislature adopted much if not all of the property insurers' agenda. It was a desperate but understandable effort to keep property insurance companies doing business in Florida, although what benefit it might be to Florida policyholders to pay premiums for a lot less coverage – if any – is a good question. The Session was originally billed, by the way, as an attempt to lower property insurance premiums. That was before the agenda was enacted into law, of course.
One of the features of the Special Session was the enactment of a new statute providing for mandatory arbitration provisions in property insurance policies issued in Florida. (Just property insurance policies.)
The new statute is Section 627.70154. It provides what appear to be several requirements in order for property policies to be issued in Florida with mandatory arbitration provisions. One of them is that "[t]he insurer also offers the policyholder a policy that does not require that the policyholder participate in mandatory binding arbitration." Fla. Stat. § 627.70154(5).
Nothing is said about premiums for the alternative property policy in the new statute, nor is anything said about alternative property premiums anywhere else in the insurance code so far as is known, or for that matter, anywhere else in the Florida Statutes.
What will property insurance companies issuing policies in Florida charge for policies without mandatory arbitration provisions?
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