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Florida bill would require Citizens Insurance to provide windstorm coverage to homeowners

Plan would be modeled after California's insurance program

A proposal to dramatically change Citizens Insurance is now part of a growing stack of bills at Florida's Capitol in 2025.

By: Matt Sczesny

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A proposal to dramatically change Citizens Insurance is now part of a growing stack of bills at Florida's Capitol in 2025.

House Bill 13, sponsored by state Rep. Hillary Cassel of Broward County, would make Citizens Insurance available to all property owners in Florida and cover only windstorm damage.

WPTV was not able to reach Cassel on Monday for comment on the bill.

Cassel, who recently switched political parties from Democrat to Republican, has been a supporter of the idea for almost a year.

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Former state Rep. Spencer Roach, R-Fort Myers, brought up this proposal back in February. He told a committee that the plan would be modeled after California's insurance program.

"It provided insurance for all claims and only claims related to natural disasters and left the private market to pick up the rest. The result is rates dropped like a stone," Roach said Feb. 7.

Despite the claims, the proposal went nowhere in the last session as many in Tallahassee remain skeptical of the idea.

"If we went down that road of being the wind-only provider of first resort in Florida, we would have to have about $3.2 trillion in insured value," Citizens CEO Tim Cerio told WPTV during a "Coverage Collapse" special in June."The price tag is untenable."

Matt Sczesny is determined every day to help you find solutions in Florida's coverage collapse. If you have a question or comment on homeowners insurance, you can reach out to him any time.