In the race to decide who will become the next senator for Florida's first district, property insurance is top of mind. With Hurricanes Helene and Milton having wreaked havoc across the state just weeks ago, the question of how to fix the state's broken property insurance market has become more urgent than ever.
Candidates Don Gaetz, a Republican, and Lisa Newell, a Democrat, agree that change is needed. However, they offer very different solutions.
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"Florida is the most risky property insurance market in North America," Gaetz said during a recent interview. "Anyone who says, if you elect me, I'll wave a wand and make your property insurance rates go down is either terribly misinformed or a liar."
Lacking a magic wand, Gaetz is focusing, instead, on practical reforms to increase transparency and hold insurance companies more accountable.
Newell, in contrast, sees the crisis as rooted in a lack of proper management — both of the insurance industry and of Florida’s environment. She argues that predatory practices by insurers are being enabled by Republican state officials.
"Our state legislature has not been effective in dealing with this," she said. "In fact, they are letting the insurance agencies really take advantage of consumers."
Contrasting Solutions
Gaetz’s proposals focus on addressing systemic issues within the insurance industry. One of his key ideas is to ensure that primary insurance companies pay valid claims upfront, regardless of disputes between multiple insurers over liability. Often, multiple insurers can be involved in a single claim due to the use of different layers of coverage — primary insurers and secondary (or excess) insurers. For example, a homeowner might have one insurance policy that covers up to a certain limit, with additional coverage provided by a secondary insurer for costs exceeding that limit. Disputes between these insurers over who is responsible for which portion of a claim can lead to significant delays.
Gaetz’s proposal aims to ensure that the primary insurer pays the claim initially. This would prevent homeowners and business owners from being left without funds while insurers argue over responsibility. Gaetz said this reform could alleviate some of the burden currently experienced by policyholders who are caught in bureaucratic limbo after natural disasters.
He has also called for greater transparency in the way insurers justify rate increases. Currently, insurance companies in Florida must apply to the state's Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) before they can increase rates. This process involves insurers submitting detailed financial data, including information on losses, costs, and projected risks, to demonstrate why a rate increase is necessary. The OIR reviews these submissions to ensure that the requested rate hikes are justified and in the interest of consumers. Gaetz highlighted that some insurers manipulate this process to their advantage. Last year, Gaetz said, Slide Insurance moved more than $100 million out of Florida to subsidiaries while simultaneously requesting a rate increase from the state.
"There are guys with $5,000 suits who come in with fancy logarithms telling us all the reasons why they need rate increases," he said. "That's fine, but I want to see a clean balance sheet."
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Gaetz’s third key proposal is to put hard timelines in place for insurers to pay valid claims. He criticized the current business model of some insurers that drag out the claims process, forcing consumers to accept reduced settlements.
"Oftentimes the consumer is pounded and pounded into taking pennies on the dollar," Gaetz said, calling this practice "morally reprehensible."
He is proposing a statutory requirement that insurance companies pay “clean claims” — those that are valid and undisputed — within 30 days.
Newell has offered fewer concrete policy proposals, choosing to focus, instead, on what she characterized as the Florida Republican party's failure to make meaningful progress during the years they've held power, as well as the need for more aggressive climate action and growth management to prevent the crisis from deepening.
One idea Newell has suggested is for the state to cap insurance policies at the average home value in Florida, with higher-value properties requiring supplemental policies. This, she argues, would reduce the risk exposure for insurers and spread it more equitably across the market. By limiting the base coverage to the average home value, Newell said insurers could stabilize their risk pools, which would help bring down premiums for most homeowners. For higher-value homes, supplemental policies would provide additional coverage at a cost reflective of their increased risk, potentially discouraging risky developments in vulnerable areas.
"Part of the problem is that we are allowing people to build in very sensitive areas, close to the water," she said. She blames unregulated growth and weak building standards for amplifying the state’s vulnerabilities and driving up costs for everyone.
Environment, Growth, and Insurance
While Gaetz and Newell agree that reform is needed, they disagree fundamentally on the root causes and the best approach to mitigating future risks. Newell points to climate change as a driving force behind the intensifying storms and argues that addressing climate change must be part of any long-term solution.
"Every month we’ve got the hottest month on record," she said. She added that responsible growth management — including stopping clear-cutting and protecting natural waterways — was also key to reducing insurance risks. Newell has advocated for stricter building codes to make homes more resilient to extreme weather events.
Gaetz also acknowledges climate change but has a different perspective on the state's role in addressing it.
"I’m not running for office to argue with a thermometer," he said, while quickly adding, "Climate change virtue signaling won't solve our property insurance crisis."
Instead, he emphasized the need for practical measures that directly address current systemic problems. Both Gaetz and Newell agree on the importance of strengthening building codes to make homes more resilient to disasters.
However, Gaetz is more cautious about expanding the state's role in growth management. He said decisions about land use should primarily be left to local governments rather than being dictated by state-level policies.
"We need to be careful not to make growth management a state jurisdiction," Gaetz argued, suggesting that local conditions require tailored approaches. Instead of statewide mandates, Gaetz supports market-based solutions like conservation easements and incentives for homeowners to make their properties more resilient.
Campaign Contributions
Newell has repeatedly accused Gaetz of being financially backed by the insurance industry, though when pressed for details during an interview, she could not substantiate those allegations.
"I've received a couple of contributions from insurance-related interests," Gaetz said. "I can't remember exactly how many, but certainly fewer than I could find on one hand."
Gaetz also pointed out that while the Republican Party of Florida has received substantial donations from the insurance industry, he has not personally benefited from those contributions.
"I've never received a dollar from the Republican Party of Florida," Gaetz said. "If they've been collecting money from the insurance industry ... they didn't pass the money on to me."
