NU Online News Service, Jan. 7, 1:17 p.m. EST

The Florida Senate's Banking and Insurance Committee has weighed in on the sinkhole issue, proposing a set of recommendations for lawmakers when they meet later this year.

In its 45-page report on the topic, the state Senate outlined recommendations to lawmakers, including:

• Allowing insurers to not renew a home after paying a sinkhole claim.
• Requiring claims to be filed within two or three years after damage surfaces.
• Revising the building codes.
• Defining the kinds of damages caused by sinkholes.
• Creating a state sinkhole repair program to fix homes instead of leaving it in the hands of the homeowner.
• Capping the fee for public adjusters.

Last November the state Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) released the findings of a data call from 211 insurers. The report concluded that the total cost of about 24,670 sinkhole claims from 2006 to 2010 was about $1.4 billion and increased from $209 million in 2006 to about twice that in 2009. Many claims are coming from outside traditional sinkhole areas, the OIR found.