Sweet News for Condo Owners

There’s good news for Condominium owners in Florida. Some condo associations could see an end to triple-digit increases in insurance premiums, and some may even get refunds.

Citizens Insurance, the insurer of last resort for Florida homeowners, is changing the way associations' policies are handled. Condominium buildings will no longer be grouped together in one bulk insurance policy, but will treat the dwellings separately under a new policy adopted by Citizens.

The change could save condo owners thousands of dollars a year in their hurricane and wind coverage, which typically accounts for about 75% of a unit’s annual insurance premium.

Citizens will still apply the stricter criteria to individual condo buildings which cost $10 million or more to replace. But buildings that are not estimated to cost that much to replace will pay lower premiums such as retirement condo communities and developments which are not to close to the Gulf of Mexico.

Most waterfront and larger developments will still have to pay the higher premiums.

Those affected by the change will see a reduction in their condo insurance from 20 to 30%. The change will apply retroactively to any policies issued after May 15th.

Citizens is in the process of re-evaluating association policies and their premiums statewide, and will refund the difference to an estimated 2,000 affected associations.

Senior citizens lobbying Citizens prompted the change. Some seniors feared losing their properties due to the higher cost of insurance.

Governor Jeb Bush has said Florida’s insurance crisis is his number one priority, and may call a special session of the legislature for October in an attempt to resolve the state’s problems with higher insurance rates as a result of the past two years series of hurricanes.