Lawmakers cut time to file hurricane-related claims

Lawmakers passed a major property insurance bill that limits the time to file a hurricane-related claim to three years, down from five years, and allows insurers to pay only part of a claim up front, rather than requiring payment all at once. It maintains the requirement that insurers provide sinkhole coverage, contrary to an original Senate bill that made such coverage optional. Negotiators failed to impose a 25 percent Citizens Property Insurance Corp. rate increase, which was an early provision of the insurance reform effort.