September 20, 2006

CFO ANNOUNCES “FORTIFY FLORIDA” EXPO IN PANHANDLE
Escambia County Prepares! offers homeowners hurricane-strengthening help

Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher today announced Pensacola as the site of the second in a series of free homeowner expos that bring together businesses and not-for-profit agencies to help Floridians learn ways to make their homes more hurricane-resistant.

“Fortify Florida: Pensacola Prepares!” is being co-hosted by Gulf Power Corporation, the Escambia County Commission and WEAR-TV. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, at the Pensacola Civic Center. It will bring together more than 70 exhibitors providing information, services and products that support the CFO’s goal of hurricane-strengthening homes throughout the state.

“The Pensacola area knows firsthand the damaging effects of hurricane-force winds on our homes and our communities,” Gallagher said. “While many residents in the area have taken steps to make their homes more hurricane-resistant, Fortify Florida will highlight the valuable resources that are available to reduce damage and avoid loss. Our goals are safer families and swifter recovery should another hurricane hit this area.”

Fortify Florida: Pensacola Prepares! will also feature insurance company representatives who will be on hand to help homeowners understand which hurricane-resistance measures will protect their homes, and how they can apply for discounts on their insurance premiums. By law, insurance companies are required to offer policyholders discounts on the wind-coverage portion of their homeowner policy premiums for specific measures that reduce their homes’ exposure to windstorm damage.

Workshops will be held throughout the day to highlight methods and products homeowners can use to make their homes safer. All exhibits and workshops are free. Door prizes donated by several participating vendors will also be given away throughout the day to those in attendance.

“The support of Gulf Power, the Escambia County Commission and WEAR-TV reinforces how hurricane preparation and recovery is a community-wide effort,” Gallagher said. “Their involvement and that of all residents is key to weathering hurricane season in Florida.”

Fortify Florida: Pensacola Prepares! is being held in conjunction with the My Safe Florida Home program, a program administered by the Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) to protect Floridians and assist them in making their homes safer against hurricanes. DFS staff will be available to assist expo participants who want to apply for My Safe Florida Home free inspections.

In addition to learning how they can apply for the My Safe Florida Home program, residents who attend the Fortify Florida: Pensacola Prepares! expo can participate in home improvement how-to clinics, learn about building products designed to strengthen homes and talk to insurance company representatives about how they can take advantage of premium discounts for hurricane hardening their homes. Local contractors, home improvement stores, banks, lenders, and credit counseling services will also be on hand to assist consumers. For more information, please contact Audrey Sumrall Brown at (850) 413-2429.

“Fortify Florida” expos are being coordinated as a partnership of the Florida Department of Financial Services, The Office of Insurance Regulation and the Executive Office of the Governor. The third “Fortify Florida” expo is scheduled for Palm Beach County on Saturday, October 14, at the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University. For more information on these events and to learn the steps you can take to make your home more hurricane-resistant, visit the My Safe Florida Home Web site at www.mysafefloridahome.com.
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Thursday, August 24, 2006

“FORTIFY FLORIDA!” BRINGS PREPAREDNESS HOME TO TAMPA BAY

St. Petersburg hosted the first town fair to help homeowners harden homes against hurricane damage and reduce cost of insurance

 
TALLAHASSEE - Lt. Governor Toni Jennings, Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker announced Fortify Florida: Tampa Bay Prepares!, the first in a series of town fairs around the state to provide homeowners with a one-stop-shop of information about hardening their homes against hurricanes and reducing their insurance premiums. Insurance companies, home improvement stores, emergency managers, non-for-profit organizations and other government and private-sector partners are participating in the town fairs, which are free and open to the public. The first town fair was held Saturday, August 26 from 10 am to 4 pm at the St. Petersburg Coliseum.

Fortifying Florida is essential for instilling a “culture of preparedness.” The goal of the town fairs is to empower people with the information they need to make critical decisions about protecting their homes and reducing their insurance premiums,” said Governor Bush. “During the last two years, thousands of Floridians lost their homes or were forced out of their homes for months because of damage sustained from hurricanes. We want to help Floridians harden their homes against potential damage, which is an investment that can save them money on their annual insurance premiums and spare them the anguish of losing their homes during a natural disaster.”

The Fortify Florida: Tampa Bay Prepares!featured home-improvement how-to clinics and displays of building materials to strengthen homes. Insurance companies from each area were available to talk to homeowners about how they can take advantage of discounts and credits on their premiums for hardening their homes against wind damage from hurricanes. Homeowners also applied for free home inspections and learned about matching grants up to $5000 from “My Safe Florida Home”, a $250 million program launched this year and administered by the Florida Department of Financial Services to help Floridians protect their homes.
 
“The My Safe Florida Home Program is open for business and accepting applications for free home inspections,” said Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial officer. “Our mission is to help Floridians identify how they can strengthen their homes and better protect themselves and their families against hurricanes. We have the financial capacity to serve as many as 50,000 Floridians over the next year, and with the Legislature’s continued funding, we look forward to providing free inspections and matching grants to all Floridians.”

“Two unprecedented back-to-back hurricane seasons caused $36 billion in insured losses and billions more in uninsured damage,” said Lt. Governor Toni Jennings, chair of the newly created Property & Casualty Insurance Reform Committee. “The rising cost of insurance is a hardship for many Floridians. Fortifying Florida will reduce the risk of cumulative damage, which will stabilize the cost and availability of insurance.”

“Upgrading your home to the 2003 building code, installing hurricane shutters and securing your roof can protect your home from wind damage and also reduce the cost of your hurricane insurance policy,” said Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. “We want insurance companies to tell homeowners how much they can save by hardening their homes, so they can make informed decisions about hardening their homes.”

The State has taken steps this year to ease the financial burden of rising insurance rates on Florida’s homeowners and businesses. Last week, the Governor and Cabinet reactivated the Commercial Joint Underwriting Association to provide property insurance coverage to Florida’s business owners who have been unable to secure it from the private sector.

To provide immediate relief to policyholders, the state provided $715 billion to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to offset the company’s deficit and reduce the surcharge assessed on all policyholders – not just those with coverage from Citizens. Without this funding, your insurance policy would have increased an additional $172.48 for every $1000 of your insurance premium.

To increase the availability of private insurance, the state is providing $250 million for a new Insurance Capital Build-up Incentive Program to provide matching funds for insurance companies bringing new capital to the market. This program will enable private insurance companies to underwrite more policies.

For information on creating a Family Disaster Preparedness Plan, please visit www.floridadisaster.org. For information about participating in My Safe Florida Home (Florida Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program), please visit www.mysafefloridahome.com or call 1-866-513-6734.