Insurance policies are notorious for dense, opaque language. But lawmakers throughout the state are holding so-called office hours to help Citizens Property Insurance policy holders break down the fine print.
After their most recent meeting with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, officials from state-backed insurer Citizens had good news: rate decreases for nearly 70 percent of policy holders. This is the first time in years rates are coming down. But even with premiums declining, policy holders have a lot of questions. State lawmakers like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fort Walton Beach) may have a solution.
“I thought it was an important function to allow the people in my district with those policies, to have their questions answered,” Gaetz says, “so that in the event of a storm, or a flood or a fire, folks will know what’s covered and what isn’t, and how to kind of manage their loss.”
Last Tuesday, Gaetz hosted office hours with Citizens Insurance. The idea is to put policy holders face-to-face with a Citizens representative and their elected official to clarify what coverage they have, what coverage they need, and how best to move forward.
Gaetz says it can be challenging to go it alone.
“I went to three years of law school, and sometimes I have a hard time understanding the specifics of an insurance policy,” Gaetz says. “I think when you get to have people sitting down across the table with one another, to be able to discuss what’s covered, what’s not covered, I think you get a better understanding.”
North Florida resident Brenda Hensley came to the event because she’s seen a major change in coverage for her mobile home.
“I wouldn’t mind paying a little more if they get better coverage, but they dropped from $100,000 down to $47,000 – in one year,” Hensley says.
Dorlene Stephenson has been happy with Citizens. She wants to make sure she’ll be able to keep her policy rather than be sent to a private insurer as the company works to reduce the number of policies it holds.
“Well according to what I read in the paper,” Stephenson says, “it’s people who are close to the coast and I’m two miles from the gulf. I’m not in the flood zone, so I’m really safe so far as that goes, so I’m really hoping that I can stay with Citizens.”
Citizens spokesman Michael Peltier says the office hours program is a great way to figure out what fits for policy holders.
“There’s been instances where we’ve been able to either find them coverage somewhere else, or to review their policy and find ways that we can help them out as Citizens policy holders,” Peltier says.
Citizens officials say their next stops is Broward County next month. Oct. 7, Sen. Maria Sachs (D-Delray Beach) will be hosting office hours, followed by Rep. Katie Edwards (D-Sunrise) Oct. 8.
