News
House Committee to Consider Bill to Help Market
The House insurance and banking subcommittee today considers a bill (HB 1127) that has broad support and would be one component of restoring private sector interest in the Florida property insurance market. The bill would reduce Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s reliance on so-called regular assessments in favor of emergency assessments. The difference, of course, is …
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Agencies May Get Citizens’ Policies
They operate outside the safety net that pays claims when insurers fail, are not subject to prompt payment rules and have no limits on rate increases, but surplus lines insurance companies could soon seize tens of thousands of policies from state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. under a bill moving quickly through the Florida Legislature.
Bill to reduce hurricane assessments breezes through Senate panel
Legislation that would all but eliminate regular assessments on homeowners’ policies in the aftermath of a catastrophic storm easily moved through the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee Thursday, passing with a unanimous vote.
Cat Fund, Citizens need reform
The end of the year is often a time of reflection. Looking back on 2011, Florida, thankfully, avoided a hurricane landfall for an unprecedented sixth consecutive year. While this string of good luck won’t last indefinitely, the new year brings about an opportunity to reform Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund …
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Insurance & Banking Subcommittee to Review FHCF Proposal
The Insurance & Banking Subcommittee of the Florida House of Representatives is scheduled to hold a workshop today to consider proposals for shrinking the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. Jack Nicholson of the FHCF has advanced a proposal that will reduce the size of the FHCF, increase the industry’s retention, and increase the cost of FHCF …
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Legislature Considers Surplus Lines Insurers for Citizens Depopulation
Both chambers of the Florida legislature are advancing bills that would surplus lines insurers to remove policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. As Citizens’ policy count continues to skyrocket, the legislature is looking for opportunities to attract insurers that might be interested in its policies. Opponents of the bill have questioned whethere it contains enough protections for …
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Surplus lines bill to shrink Citizens moving swiftly through Legislature
A bill to allow out-of-state surplus lines property insurance companies to take over policies of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. passed through two committees Thursday – one in the House, one in the Senate – and is now headed to the floor in both chambers, despite objections from some lawmakers that it does not include enough …
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PIP and Citizens: Two challenges for legislators
Gov. Rick Scott wants lawmakers to fix a pair of auto and property insurance issues that are costing Floridians hundreds of millions of dollars but have eluded resolution for more than a decade.
First Do No Harm
We’ve heard the phrase before in many contexts– first do no harm. Let’s hope this line of thinking applies to the 2012 legislative session, particularly as it relates to Florida’s residential property insurance market. Governor Rick Scott issued a challenge several months ago for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to dramatically reduce its exposures. Unfortunately, its …
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Guest opinion: Reinsurance industry is crucial to Florida’s tropical storm and hurricane coverage
As the media reports on insurance-related matters throughout Florida, especially with regard to the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, the term reinsurance is one that is frequently used but sometimes misconstrued.
New Year to Start Fast for Insurance and Other Issues
The holiday season always seems to pass too quickly. After an extended period of unwinding and spending time with families and friends, the new year always brings an abrupt end to this relaxed pace as we return to work, children return to school and we pick up where we left off. This will especially be …
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Saying Goodbye to 2011
December 31 marks the end of another calendar year, and with that we close the books on another active year in the Florida insurance market. Florida’s diverse population, large base of potential policyholders and unique political and market issues tend to mean that insurance-related topics are prevalent in each year’s headlines. We began this year …
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Property Insurance Crisis: Funding Vs. Exposure
Florida’s property-insurance crisis can be summed up in two words: Underfunded. Overexposed.
Citizens Board Opposes Cat Fund Reduction
The Board of Governors of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation voted 5-3 to oppose legislation designed to reduce the size of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. The FHCF is Citizens’ primary source of reinsurance. The FHCF has been promoting a plan to reduce its size through a combination of decreasing its maximum liability, increasing the co-participation requirement, and increasing …
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Citizens to Keep Assessment Level at 1%
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has announced that the emergency assessment in effect to pay for 2004 and 2005 storm bonds will remain at 1%. This follows an earlier reduction in the assessment from 1.4% to 1%. Citizens revisits the assessment amount annually to ensure the assessments are generating enough money to retire the bonds. If the …
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