Florida lawmakers are on the offense, aggressively attacking the high cost of property insurance in one of the country’s most volatile storm zones. A new set of laws are in effect in 2023, just on the heels of major changes that impacted the roofing and construction industries last year.

“It’s become a crisis situation here in Florida because property insurance is skyrocketing and no one wants to provide property insurance here because of the number of claims,” said RC Legal Insights Expert Trent Cotney, of Adams and Reese. In this brief video chat, Cotney breaks down the various provisions of the new law that impact both the contractor and the insurer.

Among them are quicker timelines for insurance companies to process claims and improve communications with property owners. On the contractor side, effectively eliminating "assignment of benefits" provisions will have an impact on the trades, Cotney said. 

“That was a big push that impacted the court system,” he explained. “In the past you would see a lot of these assignment of benefits where attorneys would file claims knowing there would ultimately be attorney’s fees awarded there.” 

Cotney also discusses what contractors need to know about winter safety as some severe weather impacts markets around the country.

View the video here, or visit our podcast page and download the episode to listen to it anywhere.