Why were some homes in Hurricanes Helene and Milton heavily damaged while others sustained little or no damage? Much of the answer lies with the building materials and techniques used in their construction.

Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller talks with a building science researcher, a building products manufacturer, and a developer whose homes survived unscathed from the hurricanes about how resilient construction can save money and insurance costs for both new and existing homes.

Show Notes (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-53-fortified-homes/)

Host Lisa Miller opened the discussion by highlighting the devastation caused by recent Hurricanes Helene and Milton, particularly in Florida. She emphasized the urgent need for homeowners to prepare their properties to withstand such disasters. “Everywhere I go in Florida, I see homes built with plywood and two-by-fours, and I affectionately say that these production homes are built with sticks. I don’t see how they withstand 150 mph winds,” said Miller, who is a disaster insurance and recovery expert. The focus of the episode is on using innovative building products and techniques to enhance the resilience of homes.

Fred Malik, Managing Director of the Fortified Program at the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), shared his expertise on building techniques and materials designed to minimize damage from natural disasters. He stressed the importance of rigorous building standards and inspections, noting that "you get what you inspect, not what you expect." Malik explained that homes built to the Fortified standard undergo thorough third-party inspections, ensuring that critical details are not overlooked. This certification process provides consumers with a way to differentiate between homes that may appear similar but have vastly different levels of resilience against severe weather.

Marshall Gobuty, Managing Director at Pearl Homes Developments, shares his firsthand experience with building resilient homes. He discusses his development, Hunter's Point in Cortez, Florida, which successfully withstood Hurricane Milton without any damage. Gobuty attributes this success to his innovative building practices, which include using a combination of block and poured concrete for foundations, as well as advanced insulation techniques that enhance the structural integrity of the homes.

Scott Lidberg, CEO of NEXGEN Building Products, introduced his company's innovative magnesium oxide-based building materials. He explained how these products can replace traditional materials like plywood and gypsum, offering superior resistance to impact, moisture, and fire.

(For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-53-fortified-homes/)

What’s going on with property insurance in Florida? Specifically rates, coverage, condominiums, automobile insurance, telematics, flood insurance, and the reinsurance costs that carriers pass along to consumers.

Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller gets to the heart of the issues with three experienced insurance agents in South, Central, and North Florida who share their insights and suggestions on improving Florida’s challenging property insurance market.

Show Notes

Host Lisa Miller and guests discussed the high premiums affecting homeowners and auto insurance, driven by catastrophic weather, inflation, litigation, and reinsurance costs. Positive trends such as rate decreases and more flexible coverage options are highlighted. The conversation also covered the critical need for flood insurance and the role of the news media in educating the public about insurance complexities and how agents can help the media do so. The episode underscores the importance of transparency and proactive communication in the industry.

Miller’s guests each brought unique perspectives from different regions of Florida:

• Jay Wolfberg, President of We Insure, headquartered in Sunrise. Wolfberg has over a decade of experience in commercial and residential property insurance. He discusses positive trends in the market, including rate decreases and more creative coverage options.
• Anna Regina Myrrha, Agency Principal and Broker at American Insurance Pointe (AIP) in Orlando. Myrrha shares insights on the stabilization of rates and the importance of adapting coverage to meet clients' needs.
• Paul Lalonde, President of Insurance Wagon, a Jacksonville insurance agency. Lalonde provides a perspective on the homeowners as well as the commercial insurance market and the challenges posed by recent legislation affecting condominium insurance.

Overview of the Florida Insurance Market

Host Miller highlighted the current state of the Florida insurance market, where premiums for automobile, homeowners, and commercial insurance are at an all-time high. She identified four main factors driving these rates:

1. Catastrophic Weather: Florida's susceptibility to hurricanes and other severe weather events significantly impacts insurance costs.
2. Inflation: Rising costs of goods and services contribute to higher insurance premiums.
3. Litigation: Legal fees and settlements from lawsuits lead to increased insurance costs.
4. Reinsurance Costs: The cost of reinsurance, which insurers purchase to protect themselves from large claims, is a significant factor in premium pricing, comprising upward of 40% of a homeowners insurance premium.

Host Miller emphasized the uncertainty surrounding reinsurance costs, especially with the ongoing hurricane season, and the potential for higher rates if a significant hurricane occurs.

Positive Trends in Homeowners Insurance

Rate Decreases and Stabilization

Host Miller highlighted a recent report from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation that 12 companies have requested rate decreases, while 25 have sought to maintain their current rates. For example, American Integrity Insurance Company has announced a nearly 7% rate decrease for a significant number of policyholders... (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-52-agent-roundtable/)

High-risk flood zones are expanding this year along significant stretches of Florida’s coastline. In Broward County, nearly 90,000 properties have been moved into a FEMA flood zone. But 80,000 of them were in such a zone prior to ten years ago, when FEMA moved them out – only to add them back in this year. Many will now have to purchase flood insurance.

Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller talks with the county floodplain manager for an explanation, the reporter who broke the story, and another reporter from Palm Beach County, which is fighting FEMA’s efforts to expand flood zones.

Show Notes

FEMA calls these high-risk flood zones Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA). They are designated on a FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map as zones that begin with the letter “A” or the letter “V” for those living along the coast, subject to additional threat of storm surge. Properties in these zones supposedly have a 1% probability of flooding each year, or about a one-in-four chance every 25-30 years. Some refer to this as the 1-in-100-year flood probability.

FEMA’s 2024 updated maps have moved nearly 90,000 (88,913) properties in Broward County, Florida into a high-risk flood zone. But almost 80,000 (79,689) were in that zone prior to FEMA’s 2014 map update, then removed, and now 10 years later are back in a flood zone. “How did this happen and what’s the science behind it?” asked host Miller.

Carlos Adorisio, Floodplain Manager for the unincorporated area of Broward County, explained that FEMA flood maps are based on studies of two factors: rainfall and coastal storm surge. Maps from the 1980’s and 1990’s reflected most of the county was high-risk. “In 2014, FEMA updated the maps, but they only updated the portion for the rainfall risk and not for the storm surge. There was a lot of development and better modeling and a lot of areas were removed from the 100-year floodplain,” he explained. In its 2024 maps, FEMA updated only the coastal storm surge risk. “There’s been more development, updated storm data, and better computer modeling techniques and mapping,” since the last storm surge studies done in the 1980’s, said Adorisio, who is a Professional Engineer and a Certified Floodplain Manager.

“One of the components of storm surge is the sea level, which is higher than they accounted for in the 80’s and therefore the storm surge is higher in this study,” Adorisio explained. “Now the southern part of the county is lower than the middle and northern sections of the county...and it's to the point where FEMA believes that the higher storm surge elevation not only goes to I-95, it goes all the way to U.S. 27, which is close to the Everglades levee. That’s why you have those almost 90,000 parcels that are increasing in flood risk and now in the Special Flood Hazard Area,” said Adorisio, who earlier in his career worked for FEMA as a technical consultant for flood maps.

Ron Hurtibise, business reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, first reported the scope of the 2024 flood map changes. The new high-risk flood zones are primarily located along... (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-51-floridas-expanding-flood-zones/)