Bill Nelson: “yesterday, I introduced four bills, 3114, 3115, 3116, and 3117 that are aimed at providing a comprehensive solution to…”

“yesterday, I introduced four bills, 3114, 3115, 3116, and 3117 that are aimed at providing a comprehensive solution to strengthen our Nation's property and casualty insurance market. Without serious reform, the Federal Government will be forced to continue to spend billions of dollars of taxpayer money to cover the costs of natural disasters in the United States. Worse, without Federal action, property insurance soon will become more expensive and harder to find, preventing some consumers from insuring their homes and businesses. As we know too well, the last few years have brought a devastating cycle of natural catastrophes in the United States. In 2004 and 2005, we witnessed a series of powerful hurricanes that caused unthinkable human tragedy and property loss. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone caused over $200 billion in total economic losses, including insured and uninsured losses. Recently in my own home State of Florida, eight catastrophic storms in 15 months caused more than $31 billion in insured damages. Now Florida is witnessing skyrocketing insurance rates, insurance companies are canceling hundreds of thousands of policies, and Florida's State catastrophe fund is depleted. In short, the inability of our private markets to fully handle the fallout from natural disasters has made our Nation's property and casualty insurance marketplace unstable.…”