Article Courtesy of Insurance Business

By Josh Recamara

Published  February 12, 2025

Florida’s 2025 to 2026 budget includes more than $600 million for home and condominium risk-mitigation programs, in addition to funding requested by the Office of Insurance Regulation, according to a report from AM Best.

The funding would allow the My Safe Florida Home grant program to clear a waitlist of 45,000 property owners and add 10,000 new slots, Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky said in a statement.

In 2024, state lawmakers established the My Safe Florida Condo pilot program to provide grants for condominium associations. The program offers up to $175,000 per association for mitigation projects.

The My Safe Florida Home program provides eligible homeowners with grants of up to $10,000 to cover mitigation project costs. Only wind-mitigation projects identified in inspection reports qualify for reimbursement, according to the program’s website.

Yaworsky also said that the budget meets the regulator’s full funding request, which includes $475,000 to hire a reinsurance expert to analyze market cycles. The commissioner’s office said this position would support the evaluation and monitoring of the reinsurance sector, which plays a significant role in property and casualty markets.

Additionally, $330,000 is allocated to establish a secondary office for the regulator, which would aid in hiring actuarial and support staff to review rate and form filings. Another $310,000 would be used to enhance data collection and analytics efforts. Meanwhile, additional funding will be directed toward transferring administrative and technology responsibility from the Florida Department of Financial Services to the insurance regulator, according to the report.

In an e-mailed statement to AM Best, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) acknowledged Gov. Ron DeSantis’ role in addressing challenges in Florida’s property insurance market.

“While Florida’s property insurance market is improving thanks to the recent legal system abuse reforms, investing in resiliency and mitigation programs can help limit costly damage from hurricanes, reduce losses, and ultimately help lower costs and further stabilize the marketplace,” said Logan McFaddin, vice president of state government relations at APCIA.

Last year, the state allocated more than $237 million to improve its residential home mitigation programs. It also provided a $6 million increase for Florida International University to improve the Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model.