The Florida Insurance Roundup from Lisa Miller & Associates®

New guidance from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is reshaping the intersection of mortgage lending and property insurance − introducing greater flexibility that could significantly impact housing affordability and insurance availability in Florida and nationwide.

Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller sits down with leaders from the real estate and insurance industries to break down these changes, including the headline shift allowing roofs to be insured at Actual Cash Value (ACV) rather than full Replacement Cost Value (RCV).  The discussion explores what this means for homeowners, condo associations, lenders, insurance companies, and Realtors − and the critical balance between affordability, risk, and consumer protection. 

Show Notes (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-63-easing-insurance-requirements-on-mortgages/)

This episode examines major policy changes from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), implemented through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that aim to better align mortgage requirements with modern insurance market realities. The most notable update allows roofs to be insured on an Actual Cash Value (ACV) basis, while maintaining Replacement Cost Value (RCV) requirements for the primary structure of a home. These changes come amid rising insurance costs, reduced market participation, and increasing pressure on housing affordability. 

Host Lisa Miller is joined by Danielle Blake, Chief of Residential Real Estate and Advocacy at the Miami Association of Realtors, and Karen Collins, Vice President of Property and Environmental Issues at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), to explore how these reforms could ease lending challenges while introducing new considerations for consumer awareness and financial responsibility.  It also underscores a central trade-off in public policy: Affordability versus new risks for consumers.

Understanding the Shift: ACV vs. RCV

The new guidance allows roofs to be insured using Actual Cash Value, which factors in depreciation and typically results in lower premiums—but also lower claim payouts. While this creates affordability opportunities, it introduces new financial responsibilities for homeowners, who may need to cover gaps at the time of loss.  

“Because ACV policies are cheaper, they also pay less at the time of claim, factoring in depreciation. It’s like auto insurance. If your car is totaled, you don’t get the money to buy a new car − you get the cash value of the car prior to the accident,” explained Host Miller. 
The policy shift reflects growing recognition that roofs − particularly aging ones − are a primary driver of insurance losses and require a...  (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-63-easing-insurance-requirements-on-mortgages/)

The Florida Board of Professional Engineers has drafted proposed rules to govern how engineers write formal damage evaluation reports, often used in insurance claims lawsuits.  The rules were prompted by an influx of new complaints and mounting frustration about questionable engineering reports and testimony on behalf of plaintiffs – typically involving roof damage.

Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller sits down with two engineers to discuss the current lack of formal ethics rules, the impact on Florida’s property insurance market, outright examples of fraud, and how the new rules – plus consumer education – will help solve the problem. 

Show Notes (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-62-questionable-engineering-reports/)     

The Florida Board of Professional Engineers currently has no rules regarding ethics and responsibilities by Florida’s 46,000 licensed professional engineers in drafting damage assessments.  Most of the Board’s rules on responsibility have to do with design standards for new projects and other particulars.  The podcast discusses new regulations (New Rule Chapter 61G15-38) aimed at improving the accuracy and ethics of damage reports in insurance claims and lawsuits.

Background: Lack of Ethics Rules

George Miles, Senior Principal Engineer with Alligator Consulting Engineers in Edgewater, Florida, has seen the problem first-hand.  The 25-year engineering veteran has written damage evaluation reports and testified in insurance claims cases in both civil and criminal court.  The lack of ethics rules “has made it a little bit like the wild, wild west,” he said.  “One engineer specifically, he made up a method that basically said that wind as it went over a house, would speed up.  This is completely untrue.  Nothing further from the truth.  He testified in court to it for years.  When I saw it, I knew it was false.  He went as far as taking a NASA document that said this theory was false, cutting out the picture of the NASA document to just show the diagram, and used it to try to prove his method was true.”  

Miles said he complained and the board simply told the engineer not to use that method anymore – but he has persisted in doing so.  Miles said the Board is “handcuffed” without ethics rules; that its prosecuting attorney has said that it is difficult to find probable cause against an engineer, even when a complaint may be valid, without having rules in place that address reports and standards for existing damaged buildings.  Miles said he’s turned in about 18 engineers with questionable reports to the board and is among those leading the charge to implement the proposed rules....  (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-62-questionable-engineering-reports/)

Lisa Miller has the tables turned on her in this podcast where she’s the guest, in this originally-aired episode of the InsuredMine podcast with CEO and host Raution Jaiswal.  The former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner discusses her career and the evolving insurance landscape – both here in Florida and nationally – and how to decode it. 

The discussion covers litigation reforms, market stability, Citizens Property Insurance depopulation, and other legislative actions in Florida that are restoring consumer confidence and attracting private insurance companies. They also touch on national trends like parametric insurance, the rise of artificial intelligence in underwriting and claims, and the impact of the National Flood Insurance Program shutdown on real estate closings.

Show Notes (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-61-the-evolving-insurance-landscape/) 

Lisa Miller shared her extensive experience in the insurance industry, spanning 35 years, and her work with various stakeholders, including agents, contractors, disaster recovery experts, Realtors®, and insurance company executives.  She recounted her first exposure to catastrophes during 1992’s Hurricane Andrew, which shaped her career and commitment to helping policyholders, and her expanding role in disaster recovery today.

Miller shared her views and provided insights on: 

Litigation Reform & Market Stability: How recent legislative actions in Florida are restoring consumer confidence and attracting private insurance companies back to the state.

The Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s Depopulation Strategy: The push to move policies from government-run insurance to private markets for long-term sustainability.  The strategy has reduced policies from over 1.5 million to under 500,000.

National Trends: The rise of parametric insurance and its potential to revolutionize the flood insurance space; how states such as Louisiana and California are rethinking risk and resilience; concerns of northeastern states about rising water levels; and the importance of attracting young, innovative professionals to the insurance industry to drive future growth and innovation.

Innovation & Artificial Intelligence: Why AI isn’t a threat but a tool – if used responsibly – to make underwriting and claims smarter.  Miller emphasized the importance of AI in improving efficiency and consumer confidence, emphasizing its potential as a tool rather than a threat.  She discussed a recent Florida legislative committee meeting devoted to AI and its use in insurance claims, including a subsequent bill filed in the January 2026 legislative session that would require human reviews of insurance claim denials.

The podcast had its light moments, as well.  “I often laugh and say that when people see me coming, particularly in the halls of the Capitol of Florida, they either run toward me or they run the other way, because those that go the other way are scared of it.  Insurance is very intimidating, and I do everything I can every single day to demystify it,” said Miller.  (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-61-the-evolving-insurance-landscape/)

A new report from Verisk predicts a “new reality” in future natural catastrophes, with unprecedented global losses to exceed $152 billion annually.  It’s being driven by “frequency perils” − frequent events, such as daily afternoon summer storms and hurricanes, that are driving high-impact losses.

Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller sits down with a Verisk modeler and a Florida property insurance company meteorologist and risk analyst, to discuss how catastrophe modeling works, how insurance companies use it to set homeowners rates, and its importance in understanding and mitigating extreme weather risks now and in the future.

Show Notes  (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-60-our-growing-catastrophe-risk/) 

The podcast discusses the increasing frequency and severity of storms and their impact on property insurance rates, particularly in Florida.  Dr. Julia Borman is Assistant Vice President of the Regulatory and Rating Client Services Team at Verisk.  It’s part of the data analytic firm’s Extreme Event Solutions division, which assists clients in working with regulators and rating agencies on a variety of projects, including data calls, utilizing catastrophe modeling in rating plans, and stress tests.  Natalie Ferrari is a Meteorologist and Catastrophic Risk Analyst for American Integrity Insurance Company, based in Tampa, Florida.  She provides data-driven insights into developing storms and their potential impacts by leveraging Verisk’s modeling.  Together, with host Miller, they explored the evolving landscape of catastrophic risk modeling in rate filings and regulatory processes, the intensifying impact of extreme weather, and the need for resilience and preparedness in the face of natural disasters that modeling can guide.

Catastrophe Models: The Backbone of Modern Insurance

Verisk’s newest report, Modeling Insured Catastrophe Losses: A Global Perspective for 2025, projects expected future global losses to exceed $152 billion annually.  That’s up from the $132 billion annual average loss over the past five years.  Host Miller quoted Verisk Extreme Event Solutions President Rob Newbold’s remarks on the September 2025 report, that “the modeled losses reflect a fundamental shift in the risk landscape.  Natural catastrophe losses are no longer statistical anomalies.  They are the new normal.”  

Borman said the report’s $152 billion figure is a particularly significant one, given that the actual global losses in 2024 were around $137 billion.  “Over half of it was what we call frequency peril loss.  You used to hear around the industry, folks were calling things like severe thunderstorms and wildfire ‘secondary perils.’  We don't call them that at Verisk anymore.  They are frequency perils based on the fact that they happen often, typically within a year and those can really aggregate up into a large proportion of an insurance company's overall loss for the year,” Borman said.

The catastrophe models look at a variety of different perils, including hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, wildfires, and winter storms.  “We were writing the report not just to understand the total amount of loss, but also the insurance gap that might exist around the world and where that was most prevalent,” she added.   (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-60-our-growing-catastrophe-risk/)

An article in the Wall Street Journal suggests that Florida’s property insurance market is inherently flawed and financially shaky, under the review of a smaller ratings company.  It cites the 12 insurance company insolvencies between 2019 and 2023 in a market painted as over-reliant on reinsurance. 

Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller sits down with Demotech President & CEO Joe Petrelli and former Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to explain the unique nature of Florida’s market, how financial ratings of insurance companies are formulated, the critical role of reinsurance, the confusion between rate and premium, and the real reasons behind those insolvencies.

Show Notes  (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-59-how-secure-is-floridas-property-insurance-market/) 

Host Miller discussed the evolution of Florida's property insurance market following 1992’s Hurricane Andrew, highlighting the departure of large insurers and the rise of smaller, regional companies that still make up most of today’s market.  Miller, an employee of the then Department of Insurance, said “large legacy insurance companies left our state altogether, saying the risk exposure was just too great.  Likewise, after 2017’s Hurricane Irma, other companies stopped writing new policies.”  

Florida’s Unique Market
Miller noted that the state’s property insurance market has adapted over the ensuing 33 years to continue to provide needed insurance “for what's become one of the riskiest places on earth to insure.  It has unique challenges that have prompted innovative solutions.”  One of those solutions was Demotech, a Columbus, Ohio-based actuarial firm that provided ratings for Florida’s new regional companies when other ratings companies would not.  

Demotech’s Role
Demotech President Joe Petrelli said its specialty in reviewing and assigning Financial Stability Ratings (FSRs) for independent regional carriers was born of the need of federal mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 1988, who together own or insure a substantial number of home mortgages nationwide.  They vetted Demotech’s ratings methodology and today, the firm provides FSRs for most of the 55 Florida based property insurance companies, including some of the recent 14 carriers who’ve entered the market since the Florida Legislature’s 2022-2023 litigation and consumer protection reforms.  Now in its 40th year, Demotech rates insurance companies across the nation that write billions of dollars of premiums.

“We look at carriers independent of their size.  We look at them based on their business model, the execution of that business model, and the complementary nature of their reinsurance program,” said Petrelli.  “So I think that's what makes us unique.  I think when we look at catastrophe prone areas, whether it's wind, fire, tornado, hail, earthquake, what we're looking at is, does your reinsurance program give you the claims paying ability that you need?”  (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-59-how-secure-is-floridas-property-insurance-market/)