EDITORIAL: Sunshine laws helped uncover insurance issue

As we celebrate Sunshine Week, the work done by Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald staff to uncover issues with insurance companies in Florida can serve as a good example of how a free press can make a difference.

When Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez ordered an investigation into property insurance companies, it was not only much needed and appreciated, but signaled the power of the press still exists.

Perez wants the House Insurance and Banking Committee to look into claims revealed in an investigative report by the Times/Herald that insurance companies were able to hide profits from the Legislature.

The newspaper report, which we acknowledged a week ago, outlined how several companies were able to move profits to affiliates while claiming they were all but going broke. The action took place after a series of hurricanes struck Florida that moved the Legislature to pass laws protecting the insurance companies from lawsuits and giving them other benefits

The investigative team of reporters and editors who broke the news waited two years for a draft from the Office of Insurance Regulation (an example of eroding Sunshine Laws) before completing their own investigation. When the reporting was complete, the Times/Herald staff charged that insurance carriers were able to siphon more than a billion dollars in profits to parent companies even as some moved to leave the state, claiming they could not make a profit.

Perez said the investigation by the state includes the ability to subpoena witnesses and come up with ideas how to prevent the alleged deeds from happening again.

It's a somewhat unusual and surprising move by a House Speaker in the Republican-dominated Legislature. But, it was a decision that was lauded by both Democrats and Republicans after the somewhat embarrassing newspaper reports on how insurance companies misled the lawmakers.

Insurance executives say the report is misleading. They also claim it is outdated and that changes made by the Legislature in 2022 have put the state's insurance industry back on track and has made doing business in Florida much more stable and open to profits.

The state has seen more companies return or open up shop in Florida for the first time thanks to the insurance-friendly laws passed in 2022. That has also given relief to the state-backed insurer of last resort, Citizens, which has shed tens of thousands of policies to the new companies.

The Legislature is already working on new laws that would require executive pay disclosure along with other requirements on insurance agents and companies that could bring greater transparency to the status of companies and where premium payments are going.

All in all, insurance will be a big topic among lawmakers this session.

Insurance companies will be working to keep lawmakers' hands off legislation passed in the last two years that has enabled them to remain stable even after three big storms in 2024.

However the 2025 legislative session plays out, homeowners owe gratitude to the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times for spending nearly three years chasing down the facts and looking into the conduct of insurance companies.

Claims that allegedly were rejected and damages that were low-balled were common complaints by homeowners who struggled to get their homes repaired and livable after hurricane damage.

Insurance companies know now they are being watched.

And that is a key role of the media.

Florida once ranked as a leader in the U.S. for access to public records. That time is past.

We must stand up to those who would chip away at laws allowing citizens and the press to get answers through public documents.

There's no better time than Sunshine Week to let your legislators know you value that right.