Florida Legislature Passes Major Changes to Auto, Property Insurance Markets
The actions follow weeks of back-and-forth debate on the proposals between the House and Senate chambers.
Stakeholders say neither of the potential new laws will do enough to accomplish lawmakers’ goals of reducing rates or weeding out fraud in their respective insurance industries. Both bills are now headed to Governor Ron DeSantis, who will have to sign them before they can become law.
The bill attempts to address some of the issues plaguing the state’s homeowners insurance market in which insurers lost more than $1.5 billion in last year. It passed Friday in the Senate by a vote of 35 to 5 and 75 to 41 in the House.
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The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) issued the following statement in response to Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler s press release reminding insurers of the May 6, 2021 deadline to file new rating plans to comply with his emergency regulation banning the use of credit-based insurance scores.
This statement can be attributed to Claire Howard, APCIA senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. Commissioner Kreidler has taken an extreme action that exceeds his authority, bypasses the legislature, and robs consumers of the benefits of a highly competitive private market. We continue to be disappointed that our motion for a preliminary injunction was denied last week.
A Thurston County Superior Court judge denied an insurance industry request to halt an emergency rule that temporarily bans the use of insurance credit scoring in Washington last Friday.
The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Washington (IIABW), the Professional Insurance Agents of Washington (PIA) and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) joined together in a legal action to attempt to halt the emergency rule.
Claire Howard, senior vice president of APCIA, said:
“Commissioner Kreidler has taken an extreme action that exceeds his authority, bypasses the legislature, and robs consumers of the benefits of a highly competitive private market. Since 2002, the legislature has explicitly authorized insurers’ use of credit history. Commissioner Kreidler is incorrect in his position that credit scores are unreliable because of the pandemic. A report by Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions demonstrates that credit scores overall remained stable during 2020
The model "provides a structure to strengthen distracted driving laws across the country by establishing a comprehensive hands-free law to curb driver distraction," NCOIL said in a news release.
Insurers Don’t Like New New Credit Scoring Ban in Washington, But Say They’ll Follow the Law April 28, 2021
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association said it insurers will following the law where it concerns Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s emergency regulation banning the use of credit-based insurance scores.
Kreidler issued a reminder earlier this week that insurance companies have until a May 6 deadline to file rating plans that comply with his emergency rule to temporarily prohibit the use of consumers’ credit scores.
A Thurston County Superior Court judge on April 23 allowed Kreidler’s emergency rule to remain in effect by denying an insurance industry request for a preliminary injunction. Judge Mary Sue Wilson found that industry associations challenging the rule were unlikely to succeed with their two main arguments that Kreidler lacked “good cause” and had no authority to issue the rule.