If there is one hot topic in Florida right now, it involves Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and the actions it is taking concerning future insurance coverage for Floridians. At the Citizens Board of Directors meeting earlier this week, board members voted in favor of less insurance coverage while also approving higher deductibles. Sun-Sentinel Pulitzer Prize … Continue Reading
People’s Trust Ranks Number 1 for complaints…again. In Florida, the Office of Insurance Regulation is required by Florida Statute §624.313 to publish statistics and ratios on the complaints consumers submit against insurance companies. The OIR’s primary responsibility is regulation, compliance, and enforcement of statutes relating to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry … Continue Reading
Floridians are still awaiting a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court in Jeffery H. Atwater v. Frederick W. Kortum. The Court will decide whether the “48 hour rule,” the statute that bars public adjusters from soliciting policyholders until 48 hours after the loss, is a violation of commercial free speech under Article I, § 4, … Continue Reading
Julie Patel of the Sun-Sentinel continues her dedicated investigative reporting series looking into insurance issues in her recent article, Expect low and slow claims payments if your insurer folds.… Continue Reading
Last week, Julie Patel, of the Sun-Sentinel, continued her investigative reporting into insurance adjuster complaints in Florida. In the article, State seldom cracks down on insurance companies and their adjusters, Patel gives readers an inside look on the discrepancies between complaints against insurance companies and their adjusters and complaints against public insurance adjusters. The complaints … Continue Reading
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation was created by the Florida legislature. Generally, Citizens’ goal is to pay claims from funds acquired through insurance premiums and other investments, but sometimes this is not possible. According to Fla. Stat. § 627.351(6), if Citizens’ funds for paying claims are depleted by a hurricane or other catastrophic loss, Citizens may … Continue Reading
You can tell it is not an election year when consumers lose valuable rights because politicians, who promised to serve them, vote against consumer interests. Yesterday, I wrote a post, Good Guys Prevail Over Insurance Lobby, about a pro-consumer victory in the Florida House of Representatives. The loss was in the Florida Senate, where the … Continue Reading
The Florida Senate must have taken a page from Insurance Company Declares War on Public Adjusters, as a recently filed Senate Bill SB 1714 prevents Citizens policyholders from hiring public adjusters. Since Citizens claims it is already immune from damages it causes while breaching good faith claims duties, policyholders would certainly lose if this bill becomes … Continue Reading
Julie Patel, of the Sun-Sentinel, does a fantastic job reporting on insurance issues. Her latest piece on sinkholes, Sinkhole Claims Push up Insurance Premiums in Florida, suggests that the root cause of the problem is the geology underneath Florida structures. She reported:… Continue Reading
Should Florida create a fourth state-run Insurance entity to cover sinkhole losses? This question was recently reported on by Julie Patel of the Sun-Sentinel. The question was raised during an Office of Insurance Regulation symposium held in Orlando. The attendees were primarily those in the insurance industry—insurance consumers are usually at work during the day.… Continue Reading
Last week, Chip Merlin posted “Insurance Company Declares War on Public Adjusters.” In this post, you can see a letter sent to one policyholder of Sawgrass Mutual, a mutual insurance company owned by its members. The letter invited insureds to a special meeting where a vote would be held to determine whether policyholders would be … Continue Reading
Governor Charlie Crist will certainly be asking himself the question whether the property insurance legislation before him is bad for average Florida insurance consumers. Yesterday’s afternoon post, Pay Higher Premiums and Get Less Coverage Legislation — Can Anybody Explain Why This is Good for Floridians? provided a simple explanation of why many are calling for Governor … Continue Reading
Our law firm's Knowledge Manager, Ruck DeMinico, was commenting to me that the new property insurance bill passed by the Florida House of Representatives yesterday was over a hundred pages long...… Continue Reading
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune conducted a year long investigation into the manner Florida insurance companies diverted premiums and monies as expenses and losses to hide actual profits. This revelation is probably shocking to many who have been told repeatedly that the Florida insurance industry is losing money as a result of "unfair" rates and for other … Continue Reading
Julie Patel of the Sun-Sentinel published Battle Brewing Over Public Insurance Adjusters which was preceded by Florida Cabinet Tables Insurance Fee for Hurricane Claims: Fraud Suspected and a St. Petersburg Times article "State Delays Bond Sale for Hurricane Wilma Claims.” In each of these, the message from the insurance industry was clear: The Florida Insurance Council, Property Casualty … Continue Reading
Julie Patel, of the Sun Sentinel, reported that Florida officials and State Farm appear to be working towards a mutual solution to keep State Farm selling property insurance in Florida: Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty told the Florida Cabinet Tuesday that State Farm may not leave the state’s property insurance market as planned and the state … Continue Reading
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is working tirelessly for fair treatment of insurance consumers. It is amusing that the Florida legislature may give into State Farm’s bullying and even allow higher insurance rates, which McCarty says are unnecessary. Some of our legislators are pandering to State Farm and the Florida insurance industry by using the … Continue Reading
Most of the time, I battle large corporate insurers in David vs. Goliath like battles. I find it amusing that State Farm’s attorneys are struggling in this fight, given State Farm’s enormous size and power. Today, State Farm’s lawyers, lead by the very able Mark Delegal, are lobbying Florida’s leaders on a very anti-consumer bill. … Continue Reading
Congratulations to Kevin McCarty and Chip Merlin, who were recently honored by the LexisNexis Insurance Law Center's Person of the Year Awards… Continue Reading
