Business in Florida will have a better chance of obtaining insurance after state Governor Jeb Bush agreed to the reactivation of a reinsurance pool for commercial lines cover.

The move has prompted praise from the state insurers as two years of devastating hurricane damage has left the available reinsurance capacity limited.

The Commercial Joint Underwriting Association (JUA) is intended to provide property insurance coverage to Florida's business owners who have been unable to secure it from private companies.

Tom Gallagher, Florida's chief financial officer, said: "Eight storms inflicting $38 billion in insured losses have created a crisis in Florida's property insurance market, and our state's homeowners and business owners are being held hostage as a result.

“The solution I recommended and we approved will help provide basic coverage to Florida employers who employ thousands of hardworking citizens and serve as the backbone of our economy. There are some real opportunities to provide further relief for Floridians, and fighting for homeowners remains my number one priority.”

Insurers have said they would like to see the JUA re-established on a temporary basis at a time when the state insurance market was in flux. They have also called for its remit to be tightly defined.