Florida Statutes 627.7011 – Homeowners’ policies; offer of replacement cost coverage and law and ordinance coverage
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
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(1) Prior to issuing a homeowner’s insurance policy, the insurer must offer each of the following:
(a) A policy or endorsement providing that any loss that is repaired or replaced will be adjusted on the basis of replacement costs to the dwelling not exceeding policy limits, rather than actual cash value, but not including costs necessary to meet applicable laws and ordinances regulating the construction, use, or repair of any property or requiring the tearing down of any property, including the costs of removing debris.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 627.7011
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) A policy or endorsement providing that, subject to other policy provisions, any loss that is repaired or replaced at any location will be adjusted on the basis of replacement costs to the dwelling not exceeding policy limits, rather than actual cash value, and also including costs necessary to meet applicable laws and ordinances regulating the construction, use, or repair of any property or requiring the tearing down of any property, including the costs of removing debris. However, additional costs necessary to meet applicable laws and ordinances may be limited to 25 percent or 50 percent of the dwelling limit, as selected by the policyholder, and such coverage applies only to repairs of the damaged portion of the structure unless the total damage to the structure exceeds 50 percent of the replacement cost of the structure.
An insurer is not required to make the offers required by this subsection with respect to the issuance or renewal of a homeowner’s policy that contains the provisions specified in paragraph (b) for law and ordinance coverage limited to 25 percent of the dwelling limit, except that the insurer must offer the law and ordinance coverage limited to 50 percent of the dwelling limit. This subsection does not prohibit the offer of a guaranteed replacement cost policy.
(2) Unless the insurer obtains the policyholder’s written refusal of the policies or endorsements specified in subsection (1), any policy covering the dwelling is deemed to include the law and ordinance coverage limited to 25 percent of the dwelling limit. The rejection or selection of alternative coverage shall be made on a form approved by the office. The form must fully advise the applicant of the nature of the coverage being rejected. If this form is signed by a named insured, it is conclusively presumed that there was an informed, knowing rejection of the coverage or election of the alternative coverage on behalf of all insureds. Unless the policyholder requests in writing the coverage specified in this section, it need not be provided in or supplemental to any other policy that renews, insures, extends, changes, supersedes, or replaces an existing policy if the policyholder has rejected the coverage specified in this section or has selected alternative coverage. The insurer must provide the policyholder with notice of the availability of such coverage in a form approved by the office at least once every 3 years. The failure to provide such notice constitutes a violation of this code, but does not affect the coverage provided under the policy.
(3) In the event of a loss for which a dwelling or personal property is insured on the basis of replacement costs:
(a) For a dwelling, the insurer must initially pay at least the actual cash value of the insured loss, less any applicable deductible. The insurer shall pay any remaining amounts necessary to perform such repairs as work is performed and expenses are incurred. However, if a roof deductible under s. 627.701(10) is applied to the insured loss, the insurer may limit the claim payment as to the roof to the actual cash value of the loss to the roof until the insurer receives reasonable proof of payment by the policyholder of the roof deductible. Reasonable proof of payment includes a canceled check, money order receipt, credit card statement, or copy of an executed installment plan contract or other financing arrangement that requires full payment of the deductible over time. If a total loss of a dwelling occurs, the insurer must pay the replacement cost coverage without reservation or holdback of any depreciation in value, pursuant to s. 627.702.
(b) For personal property:
1. The insurer must offer coverage under which the insurer is obligated to pay the replacement cost without reservation or holdback for any depreciation in value, whether or not the insured replaces the property.
2. The insurer may also offer coverage under which the insurer may limit the initial payment to the actual cash value of the personal property to be replaced, require the insured to provide receipts for the purchase of the property financed by the initial payment, use such receipts to make the next payment requested by the insured for the replacement of insured property, and continue this process until the insured remits all receipts up to the policy limits for replacement costs. The insurer must provide clear notice of this process before the policy is bound. A policyholder must be provided an actuarially reasonable premium credit or discount for this coverage. The insurer may not require the policyholder to advance payment for the replaced property.
(4)(a) An insurer that issues a homeowner’s insurance policy must include with the policy documents at initial issuance and every renewal, in bold type no smaller than 18 points, the following statement:
“LAW AND ORDINANCE: LAW AND ORDINANCE COVERAGE IS AN IMPORTANT COVERAGE THAT YOU MAY WISH TO PURCHASE. PLEASE DISCUSS WITH YOUR INSURANCE AGENT.”
(b) An insurer that issues a homeowner’s insurance policy that does not provide flood insurance coverage must include on the policy declarations page at initial issuance and every renewal, in bold type no smaller than 18 points, the following statement:
“FLOOD INSURANCE: YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THE PURCHASE OF FLOOD INSURANCE. YOUR HOMEOWNER’S INSURANCE POLICY DOES NOT INCLUDE COVERAGE FOR DAMAGE RESULTING FROM FLOOD EVEN IF HURRICANE WINDS AND RAIN CAUSED THE FLOOD TO OCCUR. WITHOUT SEPARATE FLOOD INSURANCE COVERAGE, YOUR UNCOVERED LOSSES CAUSED BY FLOOD ARE NOT COVERED. PLEASE DISCUSS THE NEED TO PURCHASE SEPARATE FLOOD INSURANCE COVERAGE WITH YOUR INSURANCE AGENT.”
(c) The intent of this subsection is to encourage policyholders to purchase sufficient coverage to protect them in case events excluded from the standard homeowners policy, such as law and ordinance enforcement and flood, combine with covered events to produce damage or loss to the insured property. The intent is also to encourage policyholders to discuss these issues with their insurance agent.
(5)(a) As used in this subsection, the term “authorized inspector” means an inspector who is approved by the insurer and who is:
1. A home inspector licensed under s. 468.8314;
2. A building code inspector certified under s. 468.607;
3. A general, building, or residential contractor licensed under s. 489.111 or a roofing contractor;
4. A professional engineer licensed under s. 471.015;
5. A professional architect licensed under s. 481.213; or
6. Any other individual or entity recognized by the insurer as possessing the necessary qualifications to properly complete a general inspection of a residential structure insured with a homeowner’s insurance policy.
(b) An insurer may not refuse to issue or refuse to renew a homeowner’s policy insuring a residential structure with a roof that is less than 15 years old solely because of the age of the roof.
(c) For a roof that is at least 15 years old, an insurer must allow a homeowner to have a roof inspection performed by an authorized inspector at the homeowner’s expense before requiring the replacement of the roof of a residential structure as a condition of issuing or renewing a homeowner’s insurance policy. The insurer may not refuse to issue or refuse to renew a homeowner’s insurance policy solely because of roof age if an inspection of the roof of the residential structure performed by an authorized inspector indicates that the roof has 5 years or more of useful life remaining.
(d) For purposes of this subsection, a roof’s age shall be calculated using the last date on which 100 percent of the roof’s surface area was built or replaced in accordance with the building code in effect at that time or the initial date of a partial roof replacement when subsequent partial roof builds or replacements were completed that resulted in 100 percent of the roof’s surface area being built or replaced.
(e) This subsection applies to homeowners’ insurance policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2022.
(6) This section does not:
(a) Apply to policies not considered to be “homeowners’ policies,” as that term is commonly understood in the insurance industry.
(b) Apply to mobile home policies.
(c) Limit the ability of an insurer to reject or nonrenew any insured or applicant on the grounds that the structure does not meet underwriting criteria applicable to replacement cost or law and ordinance policies or for other lawful reasons.
(d) Prohibit an insurer from limiting its liability under a policy or endorsement providing that loss will be adjusted on the basis of replacement costs to the lesser of:
1. The limit of liability shown on the policy declarations page;
2. The reasonable and necessary cost to repair the damaged, destroyed, or stolen covered property; or
3. The reasonable and necessary cost to replace the damaged, destroyed, or stolen covered property.
(e) Prohibit an insurer from exercising its right to repair damaged property in compliance with its policy and s. 627.702(7).