The Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) has issued an email authorizing Florida licensed public adjusters to hire anybody to make estimates of damage. This email corrects my latest two blogs which indicated that the OIR wanted to prevent those not licensed from working on insurance claims by determining valuations of loss and estimates of damage.… Continue Reading
Florida Attorney General Candidate Sean Shaw and I collaborated and drafted language that made people making the values, numbers, scopes of loss or directly or indirectly, helping determine an insurance claim amount, have an attorney license or a public adjuster license. We wanted to better protect consumers and help stop allegations of or actual insurance … Continue Reading
House Bill 911, effective January 1, 2018, was filed by Representative Sean Shaw and enacted by the Florida Legislature to amend Fla. Stat. § 626.854, which protects policyholders through the regulation of public adjusters. Chip Merlin discussed this new law in detail in his post on July 2, 2017. In requiring public adjusters to be … Continue Reading
In a recent op-ed article published in the Star Ledger, Rutgers Law Professor Jay Feinman debunked the myth that insurance companies have been using for decades to prevent good faith claims handling bills from passing through the legislature. As Feinman noted, insurance companies argue that the Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA) is unnecessary and would … Continue Reading
Last month, California passed legislation that requires residential property insurers to take specific measures to review the estimated cost of rebuilding or repairing structures insured under residential property insurance policies. Assembly Bill 1797 added section 10103.4 to California’s Insurance Code. With certain, limited exceptions, under the new statute, residential property insurers must, at least biennially, … Continue Reading
Recently, the New Jersey Senate passed S-2144, entitled the New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act. While the bill still must go through the Assembly and be signed by the Governor, this is much welcomed news by insureds and their representatives. Since 1993, insureds have had basically no right to bad faith claims against their insurers … Continue Reading
As many Californians continue to repair, rebuild, and regain financial health after the disasters throughout the State, many are looking at insurance reform as a solution for the future. Insurers should provide the funds due to individuals and businesses after a disaster, but as surveys have shown, these funds don’t always flow as they should.1… Continue Reading
American politics and government can make people extraordinarily upset. The very nature of democracy, modern regulation, those being regulated and those regulating promotes active and emotional disagreements of what is the best public policy and how it should be determined. So, my first observation from yesterday’s post, Colorado House Bill 18-1153 Concerning Appraisals for Insurance … Continue Reading
Note: This guest blog is by Scott deLuise. Scott deLuise has been a public adjuster in Colorado since 1985, and licensed since Colorado implemented licensing. He is licensed in 28 states and Puerto Rico. He is a past president of NAPIA, and founding president of RMAPIA. Monday before last was a sad day for the … Continue Reading
A handful of bills regarding proposed statutes concerning assignment of property insurance benefits were withdrawn from both houses of the Florida legislature this month. Each of the proposed laws were directed toward assignments entered into by property owners in exchange for the agreement of the assignee — typically a contractor — to complete the associated … Continue Reading
New Jersey State Senator Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr., has introduced a bill to the State Senate1 that would amend N.J.S.A. 43:21-19, which is the statute that determines eligibility for unemployment benefits.… Continue Reading
In January, state legislators introduced bills to increase and/or extend insurance coverage to policyholders facing declared disasters.… Continue Reading
The 2017 Atlantic Storm Season was one of the most active in over a decade with many communities receiving multiple blows in quick succession. This is not the first season where the same communities have been the target of more than one storm within the hurricane season.… Continue Reading
I hope each and every one of you are in the midst of a wonderful holiday season! I am writing this blog from a food court in Toronto, Canada. While I am on a vacation to see family, the weather is making me rethink my life choices. It is currently 19 degrees. This Floridian is … Continue Reading
Rene Sigman is co-chairing an important Hurricane Harvey seminar today discussing all the Hurricane Harvey issues. Yours truly is on a panel discussing how Hurricane Harvey differs from other hurricane litigation, but there is one similarity even worse. . .TWIA is again on the warpath against its own customers.… Continue Reading
Florida Senator Gary Farmer filed an Assignment of Benefits reform bill in the Florida Senate. As discussed in Unauthorized Practice of Public Adjusting Case Petitioned to Texas Supreme Court, and Two different approaches to the Assignment of Benefits Issue, I expect that some form of assignment of benefit reform will be passed in Florida this … Continue Reading
Friends, Here is the first bill regarding Assignment of Benefits for the 2018 Florida Legislative Session – Senate Bill 62. Keep in mind, this is only a filed bill in the Senate. There have been no votes or meetings on this bill.… Continue Reading
There are many rumors going around about House Bill 1774, better known as “The Hail Bill” or “The Blue Tarp Bill,” which will go into effect on September 1, 2017. It is important to debunk those rumors and explain exactly what the bill means to Texas policyholders and their rights in this state.… Continue Reading
Assignment of Benefits (“AOBs”) has been an issue in the property insurance realm for several years. In fact, the Florida Legislature made a hard push to address the issue during the 2017 Session but was unable to do so. The two main AOB bills that gained traction last Session dealt with the issue in slightly … Continue Reading
First, sorry it has been so long since my last post! It was a blast seeing a lot of you during the FAPIA conference in Duck Key. The fishing, comradery, and education were all amazing. (Unless you were in my fishing boat…and if you were I apologize). During the FAPIA conference I was honored to … Continue Reading
Florida law is significantly more specific about who may work on, aid in, or prepare a claim for a policyholder. Many insurance restoration contractors, all insurance consultants, and all those non-licensed third parties who help contractors, policyholders and public adjusters with insurance claims should get ready for a new way of doing business when a … Continue Reading
On May 7 and May 25, 2017, I wrote about Texas House Bill 1774/Senate Bill 10 that adds significant hurdles to policyholders who want to dispute weather-related property damage claims. On May 26, 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law and it will now go into effect on September 1, 2017.… Continue Reading
Most states follow the “American Rule” when it comes to litigation. In other words, absent a specific statute or contractual provision to the contrary, each party pays their own legal costs and fees. However, the Oklahoma legislature passed, and on May 10, 2017, the governor signed into law, a bill which, in essence, abolished the … Continue Reading
On May 7, 2017, I posted Texas House of Representatives Passes House Bill 1774, noting that the potential law could have a negative impact on Texas policyholders and their representatives, and promising you an update. Last week, the Texas Senate passed the latest version of the bill, and it is now before the Governor for … Continue Reading
