The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation published a bulletin announcing the issuance of an emergency order related to Hurricane Milton and an amendment to a prior emergency order related to Hurricane Helene.
The orders protect policyholders affected by the hurricane and apply to all insurers, HMOs, premium finance companies, surplus lines insurers, and other entities regulated by the OIR.
OIR issued Emergency Order 400386-24 in response to Hurricane Milton. Any policy provision or law that requires the insured to respond by a certain time limit shall have a grace period and that time limit is extended to December 10, 2024.
Between October 8, 2024, and December 10, 2024, insurers cannot cancel or non-renew a policy covering property in one of the affected counties, unless the policyholder requests. Any notice of cancellation issued or mailed 10 days before October 8, 2024, should be withdrawn and reissued after December 10, 2024. The affected counties for this order are:
- Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, and Volusia
Emergency Order 400385-24 previously extended the grace period to November 26, 2024, but is now amended to December 10, 2024. This order applies to the following counties:
- Alachua, Charlotte, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Franklin, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Suwannee, Taylor, and Wakulla
The bulletin can be found here.