“Uncovered” is a joint investigation by the South Florida Sun Sentinel and the Orlando Sentinel examining the impact of recent legislative reforms on the state’s property insurance landscape.
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Reporters spent nearly a year combing through thousands of pages of financial filings, state records, lawsuits, property insurance policies and public opinion data to test claims of state leaders against the financial realities of the insurance market and the everyday experiences of Florida homeowners.
Partnerships
To independently verify and stress-test data used throughout the project, the newsrooms partnered with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland, whose faculty and data specialists ensured the findings met the highest standards of accuracy, analytical soundness and fairness.
To capture the real-world realities of Floridians dealing with soaring costs, shrinking coverage and dropped policies, the news organizations commissioned the first statewide public opinion poll specifically focused on property insurance. The University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab surveyed 1,511 homeowners across the state between July 16 and 31, 2026.
Funding
Investigations like this require significant resources to undertake. “Uncovered” was funded by a charitable donation from Lars and Julie Anderson, the former editor-in-chief of the Sun Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel.
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The donation was made to the news organizations’ Community News Funds, which are administered by the Florida Press Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Donations of all sizes help fund local reporting. For more information and to make a contribution, go to SunSentinel.com/donate or OrlandoSentinel.com/donate.
Reporters
Ron Hurtibise, senior reporter, South Florida Sun Sentinel, left.
Skyler Swisher, investigative reporter, Orlando Sentinel, center.
David Fleshler, investigative reporter, South Florida Sun Sentinel, right.
Editors
Bert Robinson, managing editor, Orlando Sentinel, left
David Schutz, managing editor, South Florida Sun Sentinel, right.
Visuals: Sean Pitts, director of photography and photographers Mike Stocker and Amy Beth Bennett for the Sun Sentinel; Wesley Alden, director of photography and photographer Joe Burbank, for the Orlando Sentinel.
Data reporting: Patrick McCaslin, Julie Lee and Haiyi Bi, with oversight from Sean Mussenden, director and editor-in-chief of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism.
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