Florida Legislature shouldn’t miss opportunity to hold insurers accountable

As the 60-day session of the Florida Legislature drew to a close, the House and Senate were close to approving bills — HB 7065 and SB 7052 — that would finally make insurers more accountable to their customers. It was an effort that began way too late and shouldn't have taken until the session end to receive a final vote.

The bills prohibit quick policy cancellations and provide added protections for policyholders whose insurers become insolvent. The legislation bans insurers from altering or amending an adjuster's report without providing detailed explanations for the change, a problem that still plagues homeowners filing claims after Hurricane Ian. The bills also bolster the two state agencies responsible for overseeing the industry — the Office of Insurance Regulation and the Department of Financial Services — with tougher regulations and additional staff.

Our early newspaper deadlines prevent us from stating definitively if the Legislature actually did the right thing. After giving away the proverbial store to the industry and leaving consumers high and dry, you'd think lawmakers' decision to make insurers accountable would be relatively quick and easy. The legislation should have occurred when state leaders took, not one but two special sessions, to address Florida's property insurance crisis. But better late than never.

Florida property owners deserve better protection from an insurance industry that has gotten its way in the state capitol. This legislation should already be law. If lawmakers do approve it, Gov. DeSantis should be quick about signing it. If they fail to get the bills through the process, the Governor should call his third special session with the express purpose of passing strong consumer protections to offset previous industry giveaways.

"Think of the people lined up on the side of the policyholders and the people lined up on the side of the carrier. What's been targeted?" Amy Boggs, a St. Petersburg property insurance attorney asked the Post's Hannah Morse.

Amid the flurry of bills lawmakers seemed so fixated on sending Gov. DeSantis to boost his presidential ambitions, it's understandable that policyholders facing tough decisions regarding their property insurance coverage would feel forgotten.

The zeal coming out of Tallahassee in the past two months centered on allowing Floridians to carry concealed weapons without obtaining permits or training, banning abortions after six weeks, expanding school vouchers at the expense of public schools, making it easier for juries to impose the death penalty, barring doctors from providing hormone therapy and puberty blockers to transgender minors, funding anti-immigration efforts, keeping the Governor's travel records out of the public eye — all initiatives pushed by the governor.

Despite taking two swipes at fixing the insurance mess, the Legislature took time during this latest legislative session to shield businesses and insurance firms from costly lawsuits. This was a priority of House Speaker Paul Renner, R. Palm Coast but the Florida Senate and governor went along with it and it's now state law.

Corporate protection has become the norm. Last year, Gov. DeSantis and state lawmakers held two special sessions to give the industry pretty much what it wanted. The new laws — making it harder for dissatisfied customers to sue their insurers, and providing money to help insurers insure themselves — were supposed to entice new insurers to come to the state, and to put downward pressure on our soaring premiums.

Instead, dropped coverage, huge premium increases and insurers reneging on claims, have reached a crescendo. Policyholders here already pay an average of $4,231, up from $1,988 in 2019, according to an Insurance Information Institute analysis. With premiums going up or coverage unavailable, it appears the patience of policyholders has run out. In a move that surprised many, state Sen. Travis Hutson, R. Elkton, sponsored insurance-accountability legislation that had been long overdue. For many frustrated property owners, it couldn't come soon enough.

In a legislative session that will be remembered for extremist culture war bills crafted to give a politically ambitious governor something to talk about, the Legislature might just pass something that helps the one group consistently given short shrift in Florida's property insurance meltdown — the policyholder.

An editorial from the Palm Beach Post.