Concerns over what the next major storm, or storms could bring has a U.S. Senate panel probing Florida’s top home insurer. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee is questioning state-backed Citizens Property Insurer in a letter sent to company and Florida leaders. “The Committee is … increasingly concerned about Florida’s uniquely large and growing exposure to climate-related property losses, Citizens’ rapidly expanding market share, and state law allowing Citizens to levy special assessments on all policyholders in the event that losses exceed its ability to pay," Chairman Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote in the letter. The letter highlights his concerns over the company’s solvency and requests documents as part of an investigation into whether the state-backed insurer could afford to cover massive storm-related claims in a city like Miami or Tampa. “What we want to do is judge the scale of the risk and the likelihood that it can be contained within Florida and not spill over to other states or to a big ask to the federal government for a bailout or propagate that coastal property values melt-down,” Whitehouse said in an interview with 10 Tampa Bay. Citizens is one of many insurers being questioned, amid a larger probe into the insurance industry's response to climate change and potential economy-wide harms from widespread uninsurability. In a statement, Citizens spokesman Michael Peltier say they’re “so that it will always be able to protect its policyholders and pay claims.” “If Citizens were to pay out all reserves and reinsurance following a major storm or series of disasters, it is required by Florida law to levy surcharges and assessments on its policyholders and all Florida insurance consumers until any deficit is eliminated. As such, Citizens will always have the ability to pay claims,” Peltier added. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/citizens-property-insurance-investigation-florida/67-b6602177-983e-4dcb-a90d-44a88cf3072a ►Subscribe: https://on.wtsp.com/youtube ►Website: https://www.wtsp.com/ ►Facebook: https://facebook.com/10TampaBay ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/10TampaBay