PINELLAS COUNTY —
High-rise condos in Florida are feeling the financial
squeeze with new structural mandates and rising insurance
costs; now, individual condo homeowners with Citizens
Property Insurance have to get flood coverage for their
units, even if they’re ten stories above ground.
Mike Steurer lives in a 14-story high-rise condo just before
the Skyway tollbooth in St Petersburg.
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Florida high-rise condo |
A few months ago, he
received a letter from his property insurance company,
Citizens Property Insurance, that he’ll have to get
supplemental flood insurance for the contents inside his
condo.
Stuerer explained that Citizens, the state-backed insurer
with caps on insurance rate increases, is the most
reasonably priced property coverage he could find in the
Florida market with the soaring insurance cost.
The Citizens condo flood insurance mandate is a new
requirement passed in last year’s second legislative special
session on property insurance. A spokesperson for Citizen’s
told Olmos in April that separate flood insurance aims to
help minimize any possible litigation of wind versus flood
damage in future storms. The company now has just under 1.2
million policies.
But Steuer is also on the association board of his condo
building and said the costs are skyrocketing-- from
insurance to new structural mandates.
“Insurance has killed us this year. Our flood insurance went
up. Our regular insurance increased 75% when you only
budgeted 25%. So it blew our budget out of water,” he
exclaimed.
From 2021 to 2022, Steurer said the building’s flood
coverage went from $97,000 to $110,000 -- a 14% increase. In
addition, their property insurance went from $106,000 to
$187,000 -- a 77% increase.
“We've already raised the HOA fees because we did our due
diligence for the new law because of the condo collapse,” he
exclaimed.
After the Surfside Condo Collapse in 2021, where nearly 100
people died, Florida lawmakers passed Senate Bill 4D
requiring milestone inspections for condominiums and for
each association to have enough reserves to make any
necessary repairs that may be found during the inspection.
“It's like, ‘Oh my god, how are we going to pay for this?’”
Steurer stressed. “So we're going to have to do an
assessment to cover all these costs.”
At the end of the legislative session in May, Florida
lawmakers passed a revision to the original Citizens
Property Insurance flood mandate excluding condominium
units.
The bill went to the Governor for signature on May 16.
“We're encouraging folks to go back and talk to their
agents. You know, we're expecting these, these changes to go
into effect,” Citizens Spokesperson Michael Peltier told
Olmos.
She asked what would happen if the mandate does change and
new customers have already been mandated to get flood
coverage since April 1 as part of the phased-in approach to
the mandate.
“Right now, the law is that, for new policyholders, you're
required to have flood insurance to obtain a Citizens
policy; that law remains in effect until it has changed,”
Peltier explained.
Olmos also contacted FEMA, the agency that runs the National
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides most
policies. She asked if the agency would allow condo owners
to cancel if the mandate is removed.
A spokesperson said in an email response that policyholders
can get a refund if they request to cancel within the 30-day
waiting period before the policy goes into effect.
They clarified that NFIP only allows mid-term cancellations
if a lender no longer requires flood insurance.
Citizens still advise anyone within the state of Florida, in
a high-rise or not, to have flood insurance.
Citizens and FEMA recommend that condo owners talk with
their insurance agent to see the options.
More information on the Citizen's flood insurance mandate:
For homeowners with Citizens in a FEMA-designated flood
zone, new policies had to get flood insurance by April 1,
and any policy renewals have until July 1, 2023.
For those not in flood zones, it depends on your property
value:
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January 1, 2024, for property valued at $600,000 or more.
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January 1, 2025, for property valued at $$500,000 or more.
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January 1, 2026, for property valued at $400,000 or more.
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January 1, 2027, for all other personal lines residential property insured by Citizens.
Homeowners can visit FloodSmart.gov or the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation website for information about flood insurance and to find a flood insurance provider. However, according to Citizens, there may be a waiting period to obtain flood insurance.