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Just five years ago, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-run insurer of “last resort” for those Florida property owners unable to secure coverage on the private market, saw the ranks of policyholders mushroom to 1.5 million.

However, thanks to everything from the ten-year absence of hurricanes to the state’s “depopulation” program that created incentives for private insurers to start taking on more Citizen’s policyholders, this number has since fallen to 450,000.

An alarm bell was sounded in the insurance sector last month when Demotech, the Ohio-based independent financial analysis firm, indicated that it was strongly considering lowering the financial strength ratings of six to eight Florida homeowners insurance carriers to below an A.

Why this might not seem like too much of a concern to the average person, it was actually rather distressing news to the 250,000 customers of these insurance carriers, as most mortgage lenders — including federal lending agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae — require borrowers to secure homeowners’ insurance from an A-rated insurer as a condition of financing.

As much as times have changed, there’s no disputing that one of the primary objectives for most individuals or couples is to move out of their rental property and into a home that they can call their own.

Of course, this was an admittedly more dubious proposition not long ago because of the recession, but things have changed considerably, such that the housing market is now far more stable. Indeed, more and more Floridians are breaking ground on new homes or finding a place to settle down with the help of a realtor. What happens, however, when their dream home becomes an absolute nightmare owing to the presence of hazardous mold?

Those of us who call Florida home thanks to its sunny skies, miles of sandy coastlines, lush greenery and rich diversity are all too aware that our choice of residence often comes at a cost. Indeed, this reality becomes painfully apparent when it comes to homeowners’ insurance.

Most of the available homeowners insurance policies in Florida provide four main types of coverage. The coverage provided by your insurance company depends on your house’s structure, coverage for your property, liability protection and additional living expenses that may result from your inability to live in your house due to the disaster.

When most of us hear the term “connected,” our thoughts immediately turn to our phones, laptops, tablets and other devices we rely on far more than we’d perhaps like to admit. However, this term has actually undergone something of an evolution over the last few years, such that it now encompasses more than just these ubiquitous mobile devices.

A few weeks back, our blog discussed how even though we were only a few days into 2017, the battle cry to repeal personal injury protection — or PIP — here in Florida had already been raised.

Most homeowners’ insurance policies provide liability coverage that offers protection against lawsuits if a person is injured or suffers damage to their property while on your premises. All too often, however, liability claims are denied by insurers for unclear or unfair reasons.

Over the course of 2016, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has made a series of announcements that could best be described as upbeat. For example, the state-run non-profit indicated early in the year that its catastrophe funds were carrying a balance of close to $17 billion in cash and bonds, such that it was “in the strongest financial position” since its inception back in 2002.

It goes without saying that as soon as Hurricane Matthew was forecast to hit Florida, insurance companies doing business in the state almost immediately began preparing for worst-case scenarios. Indeed, initial projections were showing that certain areas of the Sunshine State could experience catastrophic damage.