TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa Bay area homeowner is angry at state lawmakers.
Tina Hemme, a health care worker from Palm Harbor, is scrambling to secure property insurance before a storm hits. Meanwhile, 8 On Your Side has learned a fourth insurance company is now limiting business in the Tampa Bay area.
“They’re not listening,” Hemme said. “They may say they care about their constituents, I don’t believe it.”
During a special session last month, state lawmakers passed significant reforms. They say the market will eventually stabilize. Until that happens, 8 On Your Side is striving to continue to expose the reality on the ground for families.
A month ago, Lighthouse Property Insurance sent Hemme a cancellation notice. The company was losing money and was forced to liquidate.
“We have been – literally every day – stressed, stressed, stressed,” Hemme said. “Right now, paradise doesn’t look like paradise to us anymore.”
As Hemme waits for Florida’s new property insurance laws to kick in, another company – Heritage Insurance – is suspending new business in multiple counties, including Polk County.
Heritage is joining three other insurers also declining to take on new homeowners in parts of the state: Southern fidelity,