A big bailout for insurers and fewer rights for consumers | Editorial [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
This week’s choreographed three-day legislative special session on property insurance gave Floridians a good look at what unchecked one-party rule looks like.
It’s arrogant. Consumers get hurt. The public loses.
Legislators convened to deal with a property insurance crisis. It was Tallahassee’s third try in two years to rescue an insurance market teetering on the edge of collapse in a state where policyholders pay the highest premiums in the country.
What happened? A bill crafted in private was rushed to passage after perfunctory public hearings and limited public testimony without a single word being changed. Gov.
The insurance industry got everything it wanted. Consumers got nothing. In fact, they got less.
Fewer ratepayer rights
No longer can policyholders collect legal fees if they sue an insurer and win. Carriers will have more reason to deny, delay or lowball claims.
No longer can policyholders assign claims to a third party if an insurer refuses to pay the full amount. That too means less leverage for policyholders.
No longer can Floridians, especially in
Insurers now can offer discounts — amounts unspecified — if policyholders agree not to sue. Claims disputes would go to mediation and, if necessary, binding arbitration. That system would favor insurers.
Consumers will get no rate relief, as
But the insurance industry gets a hefty bailout with another
Silencing the opposition
But some Democratic ideas would have helped customers. Most notably, they wanted a requirement that companies pass along to policyholders savings from what should be greatly reduced litigation. They wanted more consumer safeguards to help ratepayers.
Seriously? It was a bill about property insurance in a special session on property insurance, and
In this case, however,
Instead, the people got platitudes. “We have an expectation that we’re going to have results from insurers,” said House Speaker
Why we are where we are
We’re in this bad spot — annual premium increases four times the national average — because
Example: Last year, legislators told Insurance Commissioner
The report isn’t done. Altmaier — who is resigning effective
Chief Financial Officer
The new legislation has
Not everything about the legislation is bad on its face. New phased-in flood insurance requirements by 2027 make sense because many Floridians in flood-prone areas mistakenly believe that such coverage is in their homeowners’ policy.
Overall, these results offer policyholders nothing but “hope,” to quote the House sponsor. Mostly, as Rep.
But this was a pro-industry Republican production from start to finish. In praising the governor’s behind-the-scenes role, Speaker Renner said he “threw the door open to all stakeholders.” In fact, the state threw Floridians under the bus.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor
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