TALLAHASSEE - Homeowners hoping for quick relief from paying more than one insurance deductible because their home was damaged by more than one hurricane will have to wait for help from the Legislature.
But state leaders on Tuesday set deadlines for insurance companies to send adjusters to process hurricane claims, hoping to help thousands of homeowners who say they haven't seen an adjuster.
A month after the last of four hurricanes crossed the state, Tuesday marked the first time the governor and Cabinet discussed how to help those severely hit by the hurricanes and how to adjust the state's insurance system for future hurricane seasons.
So far, 1.3-million claims have been filed, totaling $17.1-billion in insured losses. Officials estimate those numbers will climb to 2-million claims totaling $23-billion in insured losses.
But Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet have little power to address the hurricane-related insurance issues before the Legislature revises state law. Lawmakers are expected to meet in special session in December.
The issues include providing property tax relief to homeowners whose houses are uninhabitable and finding up to $300-million to help homeowners stuck with two or more deductibles this year. There's interest in rewriting the state law so homeowners would face only one major deductible per hurricane season regardless of how many hurricanes strike their homes.
"No one envisioned this could happen," Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher said.
Compounding the problem, Bush said, is a 1996 state law allowing insurance policies with deductibles of up to 5 percent for homes valued over $100,000.
"We've seen people hit with two $15,000 deductibles and now they're looking at $30,000 and they can't get their hands around it," Bush said.
Bush said he feared such a burden might hinder a homeowner's ability to rebuild and the state's ability to rebound.
"The perspective I look at is, we have $1.2-billion going out of pocket by Floridians because of these storms (to pay their deductibles)," Bush said. "It's unlike (Hurricane) Andrew ... there was not this drag because the deductibles were significantly lower."
But finding the money to help homeowners won't be easy, Bush acknowledged. Incoming House Speaker Allan Bense of Panama City and incoming Senate President Tom Lee of Brandon will consider the issue, along with looking at providing property tax relief for homeowners whose property is uninhabitable.
Bush said the state could create a subsidized loan program to enable homeowners to borrow money to cover some of the cost of multiple deductibles.
The loan money could be $10-million from the $50-million the state's Hurricane Catastrophe Fund earns each year in interest on its reserves.
The catastrophe fund is a reinsurance fund sponsored by the state but funded by insurance companies.
Lee said he is not ready to commit to any plan and that it is hard to determine how big a problem double-deductibles are for the state's homeowners. Some insurers have waived the second deductible after a second hurricane.
"Everyone you ask has a different number," Lee said Tuesday. "That's part of the problem with the rush to provide victim assistance. It ends up being a competition between who can act the quickest, which is not always the most responsible."
The governor and Cabinet approved an emergency rule setting deadlines for insurance companies to process claims.
Insurance companies will have until Nov. 22 to respond to claims already filed as a result of damage from Tropical Storm Bonnie, Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. Claims filed later must be processed within 30 days.
The same 30-day window for claims from hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne will take effect starting Nov. 8.
Gallagher said 7,800 policyholders have called to complain they have not seen an adjuster.
Sam Miller, executive vice president of the Florida Insurance Council said he believed the industry would be able to comply with the deadlines, but he added even the number of complaints paled in comparison to the 1.3-million claims filed.
"The reality is there's no playbook for the magnitude of devastation resulting from four hurricanes affecting the entire state," he said.
100,000TH CLAIM
Allstate's Florida unit is about to pass a hurricane milestone of sorts. The insurer todaywill dole out a settlement check to Orlando area resident Angela Cruz, representing the 100,000th hurricane-related damage claim. More than 1.3-million claims have been filed with insurance companies statewide connected to Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.
