Federal programs that have elevated thousands of U.S. homes above floodwaters may violate civil rights law by shutting out many homeowners who are Black or Hispanic or who have low incomes.

White House officials met last week at Florida International University (FIU) to announce an initiative to help state and local governments adopt modern building codes and standards and help communities become more resilient to hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, and other extreme weather events.

The Biden administration is proposing a massive overhaul of federal flood insurance that would prevent the government from insuring newly built homes in flood-prone areas and would drop coverage for homeowners who receive repeated claims payments.

Already this year, three Florida insurers have been declared insolvent due to their failure to obtain full reinsurance as the 2022 hurricane season bears down. 'We have the potential of a massive failure of Florida insurers, probably the worst on record,' says Triple-I communications director Mark Friedlander.

The Florida Senate on Tuesday approved a sweeping legislative package meant to combat rising property insurance rates and other problems in the state's turbulent insurance market, creating a $2 billion reinsurance fund and writing new rules around coverage denials and attorney fees.

Heading into a special session to address the state's troubled property-insurance market, legislative leaders said late Friday they will focus on issues such as roof-damage claims, litigation and reinsurance.

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has been named in a lawsuit which alleges that the commissioner violated the law by enabling home insurers to change consumers' policies. The lawsuit, filed in Leon County by the Restoration Association of Florida (RAF) and home remediation contractor Air Quality Assessors, looks to reverse a recently-enacted policy change.

The soul of this Florida Panhandle city lives in the Tanyard, a 200-year-old neighborhood so steeped in history that locals give it an extra capital 'T' -- as in 'The Tanyard.' It has also seen big-T troubles: Jim Crow-era segregation, heavy industrialization, multiple hurricane batterings, and a half-century of disinvestment and blight.

Victims of Colorado's wildfires could soon benefit from more assistance from their property insurance companies as the state's legislature recently approved changes.

As Hurricane Ida hurtled toward south Louisiana, Paulette Tybussek, a resident of Jefferson Parish, weighed her options: 'Do you put your life at risk and stay? Or do you evacuate?'

Lawmakers are calling for the opportunity to work on this critical state in the issue.
Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) has formally asked his colleagues to support the call he made to hold a special legislative session to focus on the Florida property insurance crisis.

A fourth insurer has gone belly-up in Hurricane Ida's aftermath. Louisiana's Department of Insurance took over Lighthouse Property Insurance Corporation in a court-ordered receivership last week, making it the fourth financially troubled insurer to require rescue in recent months.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has agreed to adopt a new standard for insurers operating in the US to use when reporting their climate-related risks.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run 'insurer of last resort,' is proposing an across-the-board rate hike of nearly 11%, the highest increase allowed by law. The request comes as Florida's private property insurance market sinks deeper into turmoil, insurance industry analysts said, driven in part by roof-replacement fraud and widespread litigation.

Try this word game, but a couple of disclaimers first: It's not supposed to be fun, and it could have a severe effect on your property value. 'In general, the analysis approach for leveed areas was similar to that for non-leveed areas, however the leveed area analysis relied solely on KatRisk and MDI because it was not possible to adjust the AIR and CoreLogic models based on the USACE analysis described above.'