Florida activated the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program to support small businesses impacted by Hurricane Michael.

Small Business Bridge Loan Program

The bridge loan program, managed by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), provides short-term, interest-free loans to small businesses that experienced physical or economic damage during Hurricane Michael. The application period opened Friday and runs through December 7, 2018.

“We will do everything we can to help our small businesses that truly are the heart of the Panhandle,” said Gov. Rick Scott. “The small business bridge loan program will help small business owners and communities get back up and running and I encourage all affected business owners to apply today.

DEO administers the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program in partnership with the Florida SBDC Network to provide cash flow to businesses damaged by a disaster. The short-term, interest-free loans help bridge the gap between the time damage is incurred and when a business secures other financial resources, including payment of insurance claims or longer-term Small Business Administration loans. Up to $10 million has been allocated for the program.

DEO is currently surveying businesses in the affected counties. To access the business survey, click and select “Hurricane Michael” from the drop-down menu. Response to the damage assessment is not an application for assistance – businesses that fill out the survey and are interested in the bridge loan program must fill out a bridge loan application as well.

Small business owners with two to 100 employees located in any of Florida’s 35 counties affected by Hurricane Michael can apply for short-term loans up to $50,000. These loans are interest-free for up to one year and designed to bridge the gap to either federal Small Business Administration (SBA) loans or commercially available loans. To that end, DEO will work with every borrower to ensure that repayment of the loan isn’t an overwhelming burden.

To be eligible, a business must have been established prior to Oct. 7, 2018, and demonstrate economic injury or physical damage as a result of Hurricane Michael.

To complete an application by the Dec. 7, 2018, deadline, or for more information on the program, visit floridadisasterloan.org.

For questions regarding the Emergency Bridge Loan Program, contact the Florida Small Business Development Center Network at 866-737-7232 or email Disaster@FloridaSBDC.org. The phone line will be answered during regular business hours; all voice mails and emails will be responded to within 24 hours.

Hurricane Michael insurance claims

Early insurance industry estimates suggest that Florida insured losses for hurricane claims will amount to about $4.5 billion dollars, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America – an amount that does not include claims submitted to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The $4.5 billion estimate is notably less than Hurricane Irma’s $10.5 billion in 2017. PCI estimates that residential losses will be somewhere between $1.5 billion to $3 billion. Commercial losses will range from $500 million to $1 billion.

While insurance coverage does not appear to be a problem, PCI officials note that some insurers have a higher concentration of Panhandle-area policies.

“For smaller companies, especially single-state Florida writers whose portfolios are comprised predominantly of property-casualty lines of coverage (particularly homeowners), the potential impact from Hurricane Michael losses is more critical,” according to A.M. Best in a Palm Beach Post article. While A.M. Best “does not anticipate a large number of rating actions related to Hurricane Michael,” it says it will continue to monitor the results as more data comes in.

Source: Florida Realtors