Florida lawmakers seek to prohibit auto insurance assignment of benefits
assignment of benefits, HB 541, post-loss benefits, Florida Legislature, auto insurance, Insurance Regulation News
News & Updates
assignment of benefits
Assignment Limitations Begin with New Year
The Florida legislature passed significant property insurance reforms in its December 2022 special session. Governor Ron DeSantis promptly signed these reforms into law, with many taking effect immediately upon the law’s effective date. However, a key change related to assignments of benefits (AOB) begins to have its real impact in the new year. For many […]
Florida CFO Patronis wants to ban Assignment of Benefits (AOB)
property insurance, assignment of benefits, AOB Claims, CFO Jimmy Patronis, Florida special session, Hurricane Ian, Florida Legislature, Insurance Regulation News, Insurance Regulation
The big reason Florida insurance companies are failing isn’t just hurricane risk – it’s fraud and lawsuits
Demotech, Hurricane Ian, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, Insurance Regulation News, assignment of benefits
Lawsuits Continue to Plague Property Market
The Florida property insurance market continues to experience reduced availability and increasing prices due to extraordinary litigation levels. Widely-discussed sources show that Florida has nearly 80% of the nation’s property insurance litigation despite having less than ten percent of the countrywide claims. Stated differently, Florida had about 100,000 lawsuits last year, which vastly outpaced the […]
Lawsuits Target Special Session Reforms
In late May, the Florida legislature passed several measures intended to address continuing concerns with Florida’s residential property insurance market. Lawmakers commented that the new laws will not provide quick fixes; instead, the benefits might take 12-18 months to materialize. Unfortunately, this estimate might prove to be optimistic as two lawsuits have been filed challenging […]
Effective Dates Key to Special Session Reforms
The Florida legislature has released its multi-faceted proposals for reforming Florida’s property insurance market. The proposed legislation includes temporarily expanding available capacity from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, incentivizing loss mitigation through windstorm protective devices, increasing regulatory oversight for distressed insurers, and curbing Florida’s litigation crisis by rebalancing attorneys’ fee incentives. To effectively address Florida’s […]
Domestic Surplus Lines Bill Passes First Committee
A proposal in the Senate (SB 1402) and House (HB 951) would authorize “domestic surplus lines insurers” to issue policies in Florida. Although the bills are in their early stages of consideration, the Senate version recently passed the Banking and Insurance Committee with a 9-0 vote. Currently, because surplus lines insurers issuing policies in Florida […]
Property Bill Brings Uncertain Impact
Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 76 into law and it takes effect July 1, 2021. The new law reflects a series of compromises reached by the Florida legislature during the 2021 session. Despite the compromises, bill sponsors believe the reforms will have a favorable effect on Florida’s residential property insurance market. Other legislators have been […]
Third District Upholds Restriction on Post-Loss Assignments
Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal (DCA) added to a list of cases upholding the ability of policyholders to assign post-loss benefits under insurance policies. The Third DCA reached this decision based on prior caselaw in Florida. However, the court also acknowledged that the Florida legislature revised Florida law in this area after the events […]