Whether you are a property owner or a renter, the rising cost of property insurance affects your housing costs. FIRM’s mission is to help to control those costs by advocating for resilient practices and making sure that our residents get the credit they deserve for hardening their properties.
In 2022
- FIRM attended Florida Keys Day in Tallahassee to promote its legislative priorities to control Citizens Windstorm costs in Monroe County.
- FIRM addressed the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and the Citizens Board of Governors to exempt Monroe County from the removal of Citizens 10% rate cap.
- FIRM collaborated with a nationwide coalition of stakeholders from other coastal states to analyze the effects of FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 and to present those findings to our Members of Congress.
- FIRM supported Monroe County’s FEMA Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Grant Program as an extension of its Keyswide Home Elevation Education Project with the City of Key West.
- FIRM created a Hurricane Ian resource page on the FIRMKeys.org website and continues to update it with questions we get from our members and information from FEMA.
In 2023
- FIRM will continue to push its legislative priorities with the help of our lobbyist.
- Along with the County and the Municipalities, we’re awaiting FEMA’s response to the floodmap appeal, prepared to challenge further if the appeal is denied.
- FIRM continues to build a database of properties to present to Members of Congress to illustrate the devastating effects of Risk Rating 2.0 methodology–which lacks transparency.
- FIRM continues to educate homeowners on ways to make their homes more resilient and prepare for another round of FEMA grant funding.
There are 5 ways you can help us continue our mission:
- Donate to FIRMKeys – FIRMKeys supports educating efforts and workshops.
- Donate to FIRMPAC – FIRMPAC supports lobbying efforts in Tallahassee and Washington DC.
- Sign up for FIRM’s newsletter – Signing up for the newsletter automatically makes you a member of FIRM–there is strength in numbers and your support means a lot.
- Attend a workshop or watch our workshops on our You Tube channel.
- Add your property to our Risk Rating 2.0 database.
FIRM is grateful for the support of everyone who has donated, attended a workshop, attended a fundraiser, and sent an email to the Office of Insurance Regulation and the Insurance Consumer Advocate. It’s been 16 years since FIRM was born in a backyard in Key West by a group of neighbors determined to roll back Citizens skyrocketing windstorm insurance increases. FIRM is proud to continue that mission.