APCIA Applauds Florida Legislature For Addressing Property Insurance Crisis & Encourages Governor DeSantis To Quickly Sign Legislation For Florida Homeowners

Targeted News Service

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, Dec. 15 (TNStalk) -- The American Property Casualty Insurance Association issued the following statement on Dec. 14, 2022:

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The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) today issued the following statement, attributed to its vice president of state government relations Logan McFaddin, regarding the passage of Senate Bill 2A (Property Insurance) by the Florida Legislature.

"Governor DeSantis and Florida lawmakers continue to show tremendous leadership in addressing our state's property insurance market crisis. Rampant legal system abuse has caused insurance costs to skyrocket and burdened Florida families, and we applaud lawmakers for addressing this issue head on to help stabilize the marketplace.

"Legal system abuse in Florida has been incentivized by the state's one-way attorney fee statute, which lines the pockets of billboard lawyers at the expense of consumers. A recent study found that insurers paid $15.3 billion for insurance lawsuits in Florida from 2013 to 2020, of which 71 percent funded plaintiff attorney fees, 21 percent represented defense costs, and only 8 percent went to insureds.

"Senate Bill 2A puts Florida consumers first by eliminating the state's one-way attorney fee statute, which will help reduce the abusive number of lawsuits occurring in Florida over property insurance claims and help lower property insurance costs long-term.

"This legislation takes meaningful steps to build on the helpful reforms passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor DeSantis earlier this year. While it will take time for the market to improve, we are hopeful the reforms will help stabilize Florida's property insurance marketplace to provide more options and reduce costs long-term. We look forward to the governor taking quick action to sign this important bill into law."