An Orlando Sentinel article, Florida Lawmakers Are Being Misled About Insurance Lawsuits, Expert Contends,1 makes one wonder whether Florida’s Insurance Commissioner has sold out Floridians to benefit Florida’s property insurance industry. One of the country’s most noted insurance experts, Birny Birnbaum, was quoted in the article concerning a letter Florida’s Insurance Commissioner wrote:
Continue Reading Is Florida’s Insurance Commissioner a Stooge for the Insurance Industry?
John Pappas was the senior partner of Florida’s largest property insurance defense firm. He has written a “white paper” about the Florida legislation in HB 305, currently pending in the Florida House. His conclusion is as follows when it comes to frivolous lawsuits and stopping insurance litigation:
Continue Reading Florida Insurance Company Attorney Calls Out Bad Insurance Legislation Harming Floridians—Join Me on Today’s Tuesday @2 With Chip Merlin
The Florida Senate has crafted legislation to force those with delayed and underpaid property damage claims to seek resolutions outside of the halls of justice. Florida Senate Bill 76 slashes the time policyholders have to file a claim, reduces recoverable attorney fees from insurance companies (making it difficult for policyholders to find competent counsel when insurance companies underpay them), and enables the sales of weaker policies not fully covering homes.
Continue Reading Florida Senate Bill 76 is Bad for Florida Policyholders
United Policyholders has sent a letter to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis calling on him to oppose the current pending legislation founds in SB 76 and HB 305. Here is part of the letter written by Amy Bach to Governor DeSantis:
Continue Reading United Policyholders Calls on Governor DeSantis to Oppose Harmful Bills to Florida’s Policyholders
Mortgage servicers, banks, and their accountants must sign off under federal regulations that the loans that they package and are underwritten by Fannie Mae comply with certain requirements, including those involving insurance. If the mortgage does not have the proper insurance, it cannot be part of the Fannie Mae backed system. The Florida Senate passed insurance legislation which clearly jeopardizes the chances of home ownership by Floridians with a Fannie Mae mortgage because it is non-compliant. Worse is that when many Floridians buy that type of non-compliant insurance, they may have the additional burden and expense of the mortgage servicer adding force-placed coverage.
Continue Reading Florida Senate Passes Insurance Bill That Will Make Mortgages Non-Negotiable Under Federal Regulations
Remember how the Florida insurance industry and its lobbyists promised that if AOB reform were passed, insurance rates would drop because AOB litigation was the cause of increased premiums? Since that law passed, rates have not dropped. Floridians were duped by insurance industry propaganda, and the same insurance industry is promoting more anti-policyholder laws that literally prevent Citizens Property Insurance from asking for a rate decrease—and some Florida legislators voted yesterday to make it against the law for Citizens Property to ask for a rate decrease!
Continue Reading Do Not Believe Florida’s Insurance Industry That Laws Will Reduce Rates When Rates Often Depend Upon Mother Nature and Reinsurance Rates
I will be in Tallahassee today providing testimony regarding property insurance claims legislation. It seems that every year the Florida insurance industry makes up a crisis which calls for Florida legislators to fix. Remember how the AOB reform was promised to reduce rates and had to be passed? The legislation was passed and the insurance rates have not gone down. Why should anybody trust the insurance lobbyists? Insurance companies try to act like victims when they are making up alleged scapegoats and obscuring the reality of what they do in the claims process.
Continue Reading Zeroed Out Hurricane Claims and Cheating Claims Practices—Why Are Our Florida Politicians Ignoring These Ongoing Claims Problems and Seemingly Protecting Cheating Insurance Companies?
When a hurricane makes landfall, it is national news due to the devastation caused. Billions of dollars of damage, and thousands of people become homeless and without a job. Most everyone in the country has seen the pictures, if only for the shock value. As Floridians, most of us have lived this devastation in some shape or form. For policyholders, we know that the storm is only the beginning of the ordeal.
Continue Reading Florida Senate Bill 76 and House Bill 305 Would Harm Policyholders and Encourage Improper Claims Handling by Insurers
A new bill is making its way through the Oklahoma legislative process that could impact policyholders and the roofing industry in Oklahoma. On March 3, by a vote of 77 to 11, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 1940, which would prohibit roofing contractors from waiving or paying any part of an insured’s deductible when the funds for repairing or replacing a roof come from an insurance company as a result of a property damage claim. The current form of the Bill was authored by Representative Kyle Hilbert and Senator James Leewright, and the Bill currently states:
Continue Reading Oklahoma Bill Seeks to Prohibit Roofing Contractors from Covering Insureds’ Deductibles
If you’re a repeat reader of the Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog, you have likely come across a reference to one of Bill Wilson’s most important policy interpretation doctrines: RTFP!1 or “Read the full policy.” But what happens when you encounter a conflict not contemplated in the policy? Or worse yet, are not aware that consumer protections exist that can assist claim handling and broaden or clarify coverage?
Continue Reading 2021 California Legislative Update: Assembly Bill 3012