In late September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. This was the worst natural disaster to affect the area and the deadliest since 1899. The island's power grid was destroyed, more than half of the island's 78 counties cell networks were completely inoperable, and 85% of the phone and internet connections were not functional. Immediately after the storm, 44% of residents had no tap water, and it took months to be restored. Businesses were unable to reopen until months after the storm.

As with any disaster, residents filed thousands of insurance claims. The ability to adjust claims was particularly difficult as the island was devastated. Because Puerto Rico is an island, adjusters could not easily stay in neighboring states in order to access the damaged properties. Many issues arose during the review and processing of claims, and many insureds filed complaints against their carriers with the insurance department. Thousands of claims remain unresolved, and in light of this, the Governor called on the insurance industry, commercial sectors, organizations, mayors and the public to participate in a summit on June 28, 2018 called "Response of the Insurance Industry to Catastrophic Events and Mechanisms to Ensure the Protection of Insureds". The summit served as a forum for all participants to review concerns and alternatives, and listen to concerns from insureds. Some of the concerns centered around settling discrepancies between insurers and insureds, the immediate release of some funds during a catastrophic event to ease the burden on insureds, the need for insurers to have a response plan in place for catastrophic events, and access to non-admitted insurance providers, among others.

Several new laws resulted from the summit. These new laws are available from the insurance department; however, they have not yet been translated into English. The Spanish versions are available here: Puerto Rico Flood Laws. We have translated four that we could readily access, and we provide a brief summary below. The laws are Law 242, 243, 244, 245. The laws we were unable to access are 256 and 247. Because our translation is not an official translation from the Insurance Department, we recommend you contact them with any questions or concerns.