From 2017 to 2022, Florida’s property insurance market spiraled into one of the worst crises in the country.

At its peak, over a dozen insurers went bankrupt, unable to sustain themselves under the crushing weight of excessive litigation and fraudulent claims. Private carriers fled, premiums skyrocketed, and policyholders were left scrambling for coverage.

To understand where we are headed, we need to look back at what led us here, and from one perspective, the numbers tell the story, as Florida ultimately accounted for nearly 80% of all property insurance lawsuits in the country while making up just 9% of national claims. Legal expenses — not hurricane losses — became the single biggest cost driver for insurers, forcing double- and even triple-digit rate increases for homeowners, and Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state’s insurer of last resort, ballooned past 1.5 million policies, far beyond its intended capacity, exposing all Florida homeowners to increased financial risk.

It was clear that the private market was collapsing, and homeowners were suffering. And absent reform, Florida was heading toward a financial disaster where no insurer would voluntarily do business in the state.

That’s why the historic 2022 tort reforms were enacted — to stop the predatory litigation, to restore stability to the market, and to prevent further taxpayer-funded bailouts.

Insurance reforms are working

With reform measures underway, insurer insolvencies have slowed, Citizens has shrunk to 850,000 policies (still twice its ideal and intended size), and rates are steadily beginning to come down.

Reinsurers are gaining confidence — but that progress is at risk

The impact of the 2022 reforms has extended beyond Florida’s insurers. Reinsurers — the global companies that provide financial backing to insurance carriers — are finally regaining confidence in Florida’s market. After years of sharp rate increases due to out-of-control litigation, reinsurers are now seeing a more stable environment.

Because of this, reinsurance costs are poised to come down with June 1 policy renewals. That means homeowners could finally see more meaningful relief in their premiums.

But that relief is now in jeopardy.

If several proposed bills calling for unnecessary measures make their way through the House and Senate, reinsurers will be forced to reconsider Florida’s market once again, increasing their rates instead of lowering them. And when reinsurance costs rise, insurers have no choice but to pass those costs onto homeowners.

In other words, these bills will not protect consumers – they will directly lead to higher premiums.

The inevitable crippling consequences of reversing reform

More than 700 pages of bills, now totaling in the mid-teens of hostile bills, have been filed in Tallahassee — many of them designed to dismantle the very reforms that pulled Florida back from the brink. If these efforts succeed, we will see a variety of serious negative impacts, including a mass exodus of private insurers – carriers without the ability to manage risk properly will abandon Florida, just as they did from 2017 to 2022. As we know from our past insurance industry meltdown, fewer companies mean less competition, higher premiums, and more strain on Citizens.

The current spate of ill-advised legislation will result in a bloated, overburdened Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Citizens, which had successfully reduced their size by 2016, is still carrying twice the policies it should. If private carriers pull back further, Citizens will explode past a million policies again, forcing assessments (hidden taxes) on all Florida homeowners.

And let’s not forget the impact on hardworking Floridians in the form of a surge in rates for all policyholders. When Citizens grows beyond its intended size, every homeowner in Florida — whether Citizens insures them or not — must pay surcharges to cover its potential shortfalls. The bigger it gets, the greater the financial burden on everyone.

The threat to Florida’s real estate marketplace

Tragically, the sum of these impacts will be a destabilized real estate market. Soaring insurance costs will once again make homeownership unaffordable, driving down property values, pushing families out of the market, and stifling new construction.

And this time, it will happen faster and more aggressively than before. If Florida takes a hostile stance toward the private market, insurers now know what to expect. Instead of waiting to see how things play out, many will leave before they are forced into bankruptcy.

We know what works — why undo it?

Florida does not have an insurance problem — it has a litigation problem. When 80% of the nation’s insurance lawsuits come from one state – despite no evidence of worse claim-handling practices – the issue is not the insurers; it’s the previous, pre-2022 reform system itself.

The trial bar, certain politicians, and segments of the media have spent years pushing the false narrative that insurance carriers are the problem. But it’s clear that before 2022, Florida’s legal environment drove insurers to insolvency, not storm losses.

Let reforms work

We know that there are three ways to responsibly reduce insurance premiums, and 2022 succeeded in each of these categories.

The first path is to reduce losses, accomplished primarily by hardening the building code so homes can better withstand damaging winds. Fewer losses also help to reduce fraud, and again, the 2022 reforms used good legislation that stopped scams and reduced ridiculous lawsuits.

The second way to responsibly reduce premiums is to share losses, which was accomplished in 2022 by providing different levels of deductibles.

And finally, a third tool that favorably impacts premiums is increased competition. Simply put, new companies entering Florida’s marketplace stimulate competitive rates – another result of the 2022 reforms. Thanks to these measures, Citizens was able to significantly reduce their inventory of policyholders as new companies provided insurance.

In short, the 2022 reforms worked then and are working now.

A call for fiscal responsibility, market stability

The 2022 reforms stopped the bleeding, allowing for market stabilization. Reinsurers are finally poised to lower rates in June — unless lawmakers undermine the very progress that made it possible.

Letting reforms work is not about protecting insurers. It’s about protecting Florida’s economy and homeowners. A competitive private insurance market keeps rates fair, ensures claims are paid promptly, and prevents overreliance on government intervention.

The alternative is a financial catastrophe, including a runaway Citizens Property Insurance Corporation that will once again require taxpayer bailouts. We can expect a broken real estate market, where high insurance costs choke homeownership and investment, and of course, an inevitable return to unaffordable premiums, with homeowners paying double or triple their current rates.

There is still time to correct course.

Lawmakers must resist pressure from special interests that push for policies that benefit trial attorneys at the expense of consumers. The 2022 reforms must stand.

Florida’s economic future is on the line. We can either protect the free-market system that has made this state prosperous or let reckless policy decisions drive us toward another crisis.

The choice is clear. And if we fail to act now, the consequences will be unavoidable.

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Garrett Richter is a retired Republican lawmaker from Southwest Florida. A successful banking executive by profession, Richter served as a member of the Florida Senate from 2008 to 2016, representing parts of Collier and Lee counties. He served as Senate President Pro Tempore from 2013 – 2016 and as Chair and Vice Chair of the Banking and Insurance Committee. Before being elected to the Senate, Richter served one term in the Florida House of Representatives, representing a Naples-based district from 2006 to 2008.

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Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk is endorsing U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds’ campaign for Governor.

“We’re behind you 100%,” Kirk said in a podcast interview with the Congressman. “Everybody should support Byron Donalds for Governor of the Great State of Florida. Byron, congrats. We’re behind you.”

The vocal support shows another significant voice in the Make America Great Again movement lining up behind Donalds, who has already brought prominent staffers aligned with President Donald Trump onto his campaign.

Turning Point USA has been a leading voice mobilizing young conservatives to vote.

“Thank you, Charlie Kirk, for your support!” posted Donalds on X. “TPUSA does tremendous work for young people, President Trump, the America First movement, and I’m proud to help when I can. Together, we are building a nation that puts the American people first, and as Governor, I will do just that.”

The support notably comes as First Lady Casey DeSantis mulls a run for Governor herself with the support of her husband, outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis. The sitting Governor cannot seek another term because of term limits.

Kirk and Ron DeSantis were once allies in the America First movement. The part-time Florida resident hosted DeSantis on his show while the Governor prepared to run for President against Trump in the Republican Primaries.

But Kirk also came out earlier in that race for Trump, even openly encouraging DeSantis to suspend his campaign when prosecutors started bringing charges against Trump in 2023.

Donalds around the same time endorsed Trump for President over DeSantis.

Kirk is the latest figure closely tied to Trump to publicly support Donalds even before Casey DeSantis makes a decision about running. Trump himself encouraged Donalds to enter the race days before the Congressman announced his campaign. And Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., earlier this week also endorsed Donalds. Club For Growth, which endorsed Ron DeSantis’ first run for Governor early in 2018, came out this week for Donalds.

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