Property insurance claimants are entitled to fair claim payments for the costs to restore their property to pre-loss condition, including the cost of appropriate contractor supervision of sub-contractors and other managerial duties.
Continue Reading California’s New Responsible Managing Employees Law Explained
Restoration Association of Florida (RAF) and a restoration contractor did not let Florida Governor DeSantis’ ink dry before filing a lawsuit seeking to quash the new property insurance legislation. RAF recently filed a lawsuit against Florida’s Insurance Commissioner, as noted in last month’s post, Restoration Association Accuses Florida Insurance Commissioner of Unconstitutional Conduct.
Continue Reading Restoration Contractors Claim New Florida Property Insurance Laws Unconstitutional
The Florida legislature met in a special session this week to pass laws that will correct the latest insurance crisis in Florida. Insurance rates are skyrocketing, insurers are going broke, and Florida insurers are not fully paying claims—some are not doing so because they are going broke and robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Continue Reading New Florida Property Insurance Legislation
During the upcoming special session of the Legislature, will Florida legislators be asked to pass laws that will violate standard mortgage requirements?
Continue Reading Upcoming Special Session of the Florida Legislature – How Legislation Could Affect You and Your Mortgage
For those who follow the news regarding Florida’s insurance market, the people of the Sunshine State are being warned as property insurance premiums are steadily increasing. To fix what is being labeled as a “broken” system, the Florida Senate continues to push for property insurance reform with the latest proposed bill, SB 1728, which is designed to allow insurers to sell policies that only pay either the depreciated value of the roof or its actual cash value. What this means is that while Florida policyholders might get the semblance of a slight premium decrease, they conversely will be the ones who will be forced to pay most, if not the entire, cost of a new roof in the event of a loss outside of a named hurricane.
Continue Reading Florida Insurers Continued Use of “Fraud” as a Red Herring in Their Legislative Agenda
Introduction: The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) has adopted rules amending the Consumer Bill of Rights for personal automobile and homeowners’ insurance.1 See 28 TAC §5.9971(b). Insurers must begin providing the new Bill of Rights to insureds by November 15, 2021. The Bill of Rights is a summary of a policyholder’s rights and is not a part of a policyholder’s policy. Additionally, Texas Senate Bill 1376 has been enacted to exempt 18 kinds of commercial insurance policies from rate and form filing requirements. This new legislation applies on or after September 1, 2021, to policies delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed. In addition, Texas Senate Bill 965 amends rate filing requirements for residential property and personal automobile insurers with low market shares and applies on or after to January 1, 2022, to delivered, issued or renewed policies.
Continue Reading Texas Amended Consumer/Homeowners Bill of Rights and Other Recent Legislation
To round out our discussion of pertinent updates in 2021 California legislation, this post highlights Assembly Bill 2756. (In case you missed it, check out our previous blog posts on Senate Bill 872 and Assembly Bill 3012.)
Continue Reading 2021 California Legislative Update: Assembly Bill 2756
This updates new California legislation in anticipation of another season of devastating wildfires. California is in drought once again. Summer has just begun and there has already been record-setting heat. Although California has been spared so far, wildfires are expected to continue to run rampant through California as it continues to heat up and dry out. The anticipated wildfires are expected to bring an influx of for out-of-state insurance adjusters into California to handle the insurance claim volume. It is safe to assume that out of state adjusters will not be up to speed with 2021 changes in California insurance law. As a policyholder advocate, you can add value to any claim by simply staying current on the rapidly changing California Insurance Code and applying it to your claim representation.
Continue Reading 2021 California Legislative Update: Senate Bill 872
Paul Handerhan has been a long-time leader regarding Florida’s insurance industry. Paul Handerhan carries the CPCU designation and is a Past President of the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters. I have seen him testify in Tallahassee on insurance issues and he truly has a pulse on various legislative issues facing those involved with Florida’s legal scheme of property insurance law and regulation. He currently serves as the President of the Federal Association of Insurance Reform (FAIR) which used to known as the Florida Association of Insurance Reform. This is what FAIR says about itself:
Continue Reading Contractors and Public Adjusters Beware! More Details and Analysis of SB 76 and SB 1598 By Paul Handerhan on Tuesday @2 With Chip Merlin
Florida’s new anti-policyholder laws found in SB 76 were not vetoed and instead were signed into law effective July 1, 2021. This is a big win for insurance companies which delay and underpay claims. The effect of these laws make it more difficult to hold those insurance companies accountable, further delay claims payments when those insurance companies do delay payment, provide new technical defenses to insurance companies when they are sued, reduce the time to submit all claims to insurers, and make it much less probable that policyholder attorneys fees will be fully paid by delaying and underpaying insurance companies. To top it off, nobody in the insurance industry promises that these new laws will reduce insurance rates.
Continue Reading Florida’s New Anti-Policyholder SB 76 Signed Into Law By Governor DeSantis