Florida insurance officials are rallying around several pieces of legislation that state lawmakers are reviewing this week during a special session of the Legislature aimed at resuscitating the beleaguered property insurance market.
The Personal Insurance Federation of Florida (PIFF) said House Bill 1D by Rep. Jay Trumbull (R-Panama City) and Senate Bill 2D by Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) represent positive steps to help an industry that has suffered from years of financial losses and a number of business failures.
The bills would bar third parties who gain policyholders’ rights under an assignment of benefits from using the state’s one-way attorney fee law and would require trial attorneys to show that an insurer breached a contract before a bad-faith lawsuit can be advanced. The legislation would also further limit the application of attorney-fee multipliers in property insurance cases.
“Gov. (Ron) DeSantis is to be commended for forging a consensus on common-sense reforms that will help relieve the market from unnecessary litigation,” Michael Carlson, PIFF’s president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “We must continue to chip away at the litigation-for-profit machine that encourages lawsuits – primarily benefiting trial lawyers – and increases claims costs and the overall cost of property insurance.”
Kyle Ulrich, president and CEO of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents, echoed those sentiments and applauded the governor and Legislature for pushing solutions to the complex issues driving the insurance crisis.
“The insurance market in Florida has been hijacked by opportunistic attorneys, public adjusters and contractors, leading to substantially higher premiums for homeowners,” Ulrich said in a statement emailed to the Florida Record. “Senate Bill 2 and Senate Bill 4 address many of the issues contributing to Florida's out-of-control litigation environment.”
In addition, the legislation would help consumers by dedicating $150 million to help make the state’s homes safer and give consumers more access to information during the property claims process, he said.
The industry has highlighted many statistics to illustrate the degree of instability in the Florida property insurance market. PIFF points out that from 2016 to 2019, insurers in the state paid out $117.50 in losses and expenses for every $100 collected in premiums.