News
Eliminating unnecessary costs will help consumers and beef up insurance market
There are several observations of Florida’s homeowners’ insurance market on which everyone can agree. Despite six hurricane-free years, there aren’t enough insurance companies competing for our business, and most consumers have limited choices for insuring their homes.
Insurance bill may get Senate vote Thursday
TALLAHASSEE — Florida property insurers that funnel money through affiliated companies — pocketing profits while claiming paper losses — would be required to open those related firms’ books under a surprise legislative change Wednesday.
Delay Sought for Vote On Citizens Insurance
Saying he wants to hear from Gov. Rick Scott’s office and industry lobbyists, a state senator is trying to delay a committee vote today on a bill that would dramatically increase state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corporation rates while dropping some customers.
Our Opinion: Legislature should hold the line on property insurance
Most windstorm insurance consumers in South Florida would surely say they already pay too much for premiums, but lawmakers in Tallahassee don’t seem to care. They’re considering at least three major insurance bills that would either raise rates, reduce homeowner protections, reduce regulation or all three.
Dump flawed policy: Two bills cling to notion that there is a ‘free-market’ insurance solution for Florida
The “good” news is that the Legislature may let property insurers gouge policyholders only moderately. According to Sam Miller, director of the Florida Insurance Council, two of the four property insurance bills “are dead.” One would have deregulated prices. The other basically would have prevented customers from suing if they believed that an insurer did …
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Let consumers decide property insurance
When it comes to insuring your home, who’s in the best position to choose what’s right for your family — you or the government?
Legislators defend insurers’ privacy
Property insurers should not have to disclose what they do with the money they divert to their own ventures because the scrutiny will discourage new carriers, lawmakers argued Thursday.
Senate panel advances PIP bills
TALLAHASSEE — A pair of bills aimed at cracking down on the runaway fraud that has vexed automobile insurers in recent years moved through a key Senate panel Tuesday.
Poll finds overwhelming support for reforms to Florida’s PIP laws
More than nine of 10 Floridians support cracking down on automobile insurance fraud, reveals a statewide poll released today by the Sunshine Alliance to Erase Fraud. The poll comes ahead of Tuesday’s Senate Banking and Insurance Committee hearing on legislative reforms to protect consumers and provide law enforcement with more tools to combat widespread personal …
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Harding: Certainty in property insurance reform: Rates will rise
Unlike the changes pushed through a willing GOP Legislature by then-Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007, these reforms are largely industry-friendly.
Differences in Property Legislation Remain at Session’s Midpoint
As we have now reached the midpoint of the 2011 legislative, some of the key elements of this year’s property insurance legislation still differ in significant ways between the House and Senate versions. Property legislation tends to go down to the wire each year, and this year looks like it will be no exception. Some …
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Property insurance rate hike bill nears passage
TALLAHASSEE – Final battle lines are being drawn on legislation intended to help Florida’s struggling property insurance companies. The bills offer consumers a promise of future tax relief in trade for an immediate fate of higher rate hikes, reduced hurricane coverage, limited rights in court and the added public burden of sinkhole protection.
Big Day for Property Insurance Proposals
Major property insurance bills are scheduled to be heard today in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both chambers are considering substantial property insurance reforms aimed at curing some of the so-called “cost drivers” of insurance rates in the Florida property market. The term cost-drivers has been used to generically refer to several …
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Jeff Atwater: Put brakes on auto insurance fraud
Floridians are getting ripped off by the cost of auto insurance fraud. The evidence is piling up right along with the bills.
Bills would raise property insurance rates, make claims harder
TALLAHASSEE – It is a series of bills desperately needed to treat Florida’s chronically ill property insurance market, the industry says. Or it is “some of the most anti-consumer legislation ever filed,” a local state senator insists.
