Insurance Bill has passed the Senate and moved on to the House for review.
Several amendments have been proposed including capping insurance premium increases in line with the Consumer Price Index.
The bill is widely viewed as heavily tilted towards the insurance companies. From a purely business perspective, the bill appears to be focused on shoring up the industry and keeping insurance companies solvent AND operating in Florida.
In the long run, this could help Floridians by maintaining more choices for their insurance. In the short run, it does nothing to help the consumer with the high cost of insurance.
Interesting point raised yesterday about the requirement for Citizens insured to purchase FEMA backed flood insurance… Living on an upper floor of a condo building, an insured condo owner should not be required to purchase flood insurance. Surely there can be some commonsense measures included here?
Some other concerning areas in the bill include pushing $1 Billion in tax payer dollars into a Reinsurance fund. That means you and I will be helping to fund the insurance companies not only when we buy our insurance but funding their insurance purchases. Does that mean I’m funding my own insurance? Something to ponder.
This bill will make it much harder for homeowners to sue their insurers and even introduces an option for insurance companies to offer policies with binding arbitration clauses in exchange for a discount on your premium. Read those policies carefully when you start price shopping!
It’s expected the Insurance bill will be approved by the House today, sending our Representatives home for the Holidays.
Beth Tate 