Fixing insurance means more than kissing up to big insurers

Amid the state's ongoing property insurance meltdown comes an encouraging sign from an unexpected source. Recently, Florida's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis acknowledged the need to better address a segment of the community that has yet to draw enough concern from state leaders - property owners who have seen their insurance coverage dramatically rise in cost or disappear outright.

"We're not done helping policyholders," Patronis said during an address before the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Board of Governors. He then announced a second event to bring insurers and their customers together in southwest Florida later this month. He also named Tasha Carter, the state's Insurance Consumer Advocate as the new Hurricane Ian chief recovery director, to help streamline filing property damage claims.

The announcement should give victims of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole hope. Even more encouraging is SPB 7052, a bill in the Florida Senate designed to hold bad actors in the insurance industry accountable. This attempt at balance has already drawn criticism from business and insurance industry lobbyists. Amid a political atmosphere that so clearly favors insurers over consumers, our words "unexpected source" aren't a stretch. Given the "reforms" that have come out of two special sessions of the Florida Legislature, looking out for consumers hasn't exactly been a priority.

In the real world, the deployment a Florida Department of Financial Services administrator by the CFO - to simply do her job to help alleviate a crisis - wouldn't draw much notice. But in Florida such an announcement from the man who currently holds the CFO job might turn heads. Floridians deserve better.

The state's chief financial officer is arguably the second-most powerful member of the Florida Cabinet, behind the Governor. As the name suggests, the CFO oversees an agency of more than 2,000 employees in 13 divisions, that conducts audits, financial investigations and forensic services and oversees banking, cemetery and funeral services, fire protection, worker's compensation and, we'd like to believe, insurance. If there were ever a time when Florida needed a competent, engaged and more independent CFO, now is that time. Patronis, though, has been too easily distracted by the political priorities of others, most notably Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Floridians might accept their politically ambitious governor going after President Joe Biden's policies. But, as homeowners face higher insurance premiums or abrupt policy cancellations, do they think it's the job of their CFO to spend time grousing about the Biden Administration's plans to overhaul the IRS, or urging the country of Norway to reconsider divesting from Israeli banks based upon Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics?

An investigation by The Washington Post found insurers downplaying adjuster claims from Hurricane Ian damage and reducing payments to customers. Wouldn't the public be better served if Patronis supported consumer protections in SPB 7052 that would temper the Legislature's industry-favored "tort reforms" and give policyholders a better legal standard to hold abusive insurers to account? Shouldn't the CFO work more directly with insurance industry leaders to ensure the incentives of two special sessions by the Legislature actually attract and retain insurers? At the very least, can't Patronis lobby lawmakers for a bigger budget, to ensure the state consumer hotline operates longer than three to four hours a day?

Coaches of losing teams get fired. So do leaders of failing firms and workers who bring little value to their jobs. Patronis doesn't have to worry about that. He was appointed to the job in 2017 and subsequently elected and re-elected by running as a Republican willing to follow the party line and parrot Gov. DeSantis's priorities.

The CFO needs to be more than a toady. There is no reason for Patronis to act like a man out of his depth. He has the insurance consumer advocate. He has administrative leadership, a department and a number of stakeholders more than willing to help the CFO move Florida through this crisis. How he leads is the question.

- Palm Beach Post