What the FHCF is
The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF), often called the "Cat Fund," is a state-run, tax-exempt reinsurance fund administered by the State Board of Administration. It provides mandatory, relatively low-cost reinsurance to residential property insurers that write in Florida. When a hurricane causes losses above an insurer's retention, the FHCF reimburses a share of those losses, which lets carriers absorb catastrophe seasons that would otherwise bankrupt them.
How it fits with the newer programs
The FHCF is the long-standing backbone of Florida's catastrophe reinsurance system. The newer state layers created in 2022 were built around it, not to replace it. The RAP program sits below the FHCF retention, and the later FORA program added optional layers. Understanding the FHCF is the reference point for understanding those add-ons, because they are described in terms of where they sit relative to the Cat Fund.
What it means for you
Like the other reinsurance programs, the FHCF is a carrier-side backstop, not part of your policy. You do not file a claim against it and it does not change your coverage. Its role is to keep insurers solvent and to keep some reinsurance capacity affordable, which indirectly affects whether carriers keep writing in Florida and what they charge. If your insurer becomes insolvent anyway, it is FIGA, not the FHCF, that steps in on the claim side for admitted carriers.