Capitol Watch: April 19, 2021 mysuncoast.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mysuncoast.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Florida’s homeowners and business leaders are already seeing their insurance bills reflect massive rate increases. Word will get out that Florida’s insurance market is on the verge of collapse.
So why do we still oppose SB 76 and regard the House version, HB 305, as only a little better?
Simple: Because they won’t work. Like a paint of coat over a moldy wall, these proposals might mask the problem for a short time, but quickly enough the same patterns will emerge.
Seen in that light, SB 76 is particularly noxious, because it does major damage to Florida consumers in the name of reform. If it becomes law, there’s little doubt that in the aftermath of the next big storm tens of thousands of Floridians with roofs at least 10 years old could find themselves in desperate need of roof repairs, with insurance that covers only 25 percent of the cost of fixing the damage. Or even less, if they have a deductible (which most Florida policies do).
Florida is the source of most insurance lawsuits in the U S orlandosentinel.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from orlandosentinel.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Report: Florida home to three-quarters of U.S. property insurance lawsuits
Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier said the trend is not new.
A new report from the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation found Florida accounted for over 76% of all homeowners’ litigation in the United States in 2019.
The data comes from an OIR review of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Market Conduct Annual Statement (MCAS) Data Call, covering 2016-2019. While Florida exceeded the rest of the nation in homeowners’ insurance litigation, the state accounted for only 8% of homeowners’ insurance claims nationwide.
In an April 2 letter addressed to House Commerce Committee Chair