DeSantis accused of favoring insurance-industry donors at residents’ expense

Guardian ^ | 3 May 2023 09.51 | David Smith

[Brian Griffin]

My neighbor is a roofing contractor.

He uses Hispanic subcontractors and marks up their work.

Maybe these Hispanic subcontractors should be licensed directly and insurance companies could deal with them in Espanol.

[roving]

If someone lives in a state that is prone to hurricanes, High ins would seem a given

[Brian Griffin]

I’m looking at the check for my 1998 basic homeowners insurance - $169. The windstorm was $256 extra as I remember.

[thefactor]

"but the cost of insurance has skyrocketed for everyone I know here."

Please tell me why you think this is the case.

[lilypad]

We just had a homeowners meeting last night in our community over this insurance mess. Everyone has seen a huge increase if not been cancelled this year. We are mostly retired here. Our community hall decided to self insure and forgo the 25000 dollar insurance wind bill. Not a peep from our governor about any of these huge increases.

[thefactor]

I have to ask you. How does it feel to parrot claims by the American Federation of Teachers, which is possibly the vilest organization on the planet?

[thefactor]

For anyone who cares about the facts of this story, and not propaganda put forth by teacher unions:

"This bill modifies the bad faith framework to clarify that negligence alone does not demonstrate bad faith and to require a claimant to act in good faith regarding furnishing information and attempting to settle the insurance claim. Additionally, the bill allows an insurer to limit their bad faith liability when there are multiple claimants in a single action by paying the total policy amount before negotiations for a settlement begin.

Additionally, this legislation makes changes to Florida’s comparative negligence system so that a plaintiff who is more at fault for his or her own injuries than the defendant may not generally recover damages from the defendant. Furthermore, the bill expands immunity for property owners who are defending themselves from a lawsuit against a criminal actor who was injured on the property and requires a judge or jury to consider the fault of all persons who contributed to an injury.

The bill also adopts the federal standard of eliminating attorney’s fee multipliers and provides that one way attorney fee provision can only be applied in limited situations. By doing so, the bill disincentivizes frivolous lawsuits and prolonged litigation to increase the profit margins of activist attorneys abusing the system.

This new legislation also provides uniform standards to assist juries in calculating the accurate value of medical damages in wrongful death or personal injury actions. The bill also reduces the statute of limitations for general negligence cases from 4 years to 2 years."

[Brian Griffin]

LIEN-BASED PREMIUM REDUCTION (SELF-INSURANCE)

Lien-based premium reductions are feasible.

With a 90% lien premium reduction, the insurer would pay say $200,000 on a claim as rebuilding get done and along the way place $180,000 worth of liens on the property.

So instead of paying $10,000, the insurance would cost $1,000.

The mortgage company would be satisfied because there is a 100% chance the property will get rebuilt.

Most homeowners have lots of equity, so the lien would be financially sound.

With less demand for reinsurance, reinsurance pricing would go down significantly.

INTERSTATE CONTRACTOR LICENSING

Interstate licensing recognition is possible.

A licensed roofer from another state might be allowed to temporarily exchange his out-of-state license for a Florida license.

With more roofers bidding for work, the cost of a replacement roof would go down.

USE PAINT

Roofs that are more than 25% damaged must be replaced as per Florida law.

Instead of total replacement, new (or old) shingles might be painted to match.

OUTLAW NEEDLESS REROOFING PRICE HIKING

Florida could refuse to issue building permits for the replacement of sound roofs.

Insurers are forcing the replacement of 11-year-old roofs that have heat-sealed and are stronger than a new roof.

Needlessly replacing roofs drives up the cost of a reroof.

Needlessly replacing roofs will also leave many Florida homeowners with tarps on their roof at the start of hurricane season.

INSURER-BASED LICENSING

Insurers might be allowed to license their own contractors.

An insurer might contract with a roofer that is not otherwise licensed to repair storm-damaged Florida roofs.

LICENSE THE ACTUAL CONTRACTORS

My neighbor is a roofing contractor.

He uses Hispanic subcontractors and marks up their work.

Maybe these Hispanic subcontractors should be licensed directly and insurance companies could deal with them in Espanol.

[Brian Griffin]

“25000 dollar insurance wind bill”

What is the dollar value of the structure(s) concerned?

A nearby homeowner of a ~1800 square foot house was quoted $9,000 for coverage for the 2021-2022 period. She lost her pool cage. She was quoted around $30,000 to replace the aluminum structure and didn’t take out the $9,000 coverage.

[conservative98]

So life only on your terms? Other outlets did their own research as well. I didn’t want to bring up the insurance matter but someone on the other thread asked if there was anything a Governor could for insurance and implied that there wasn’t. Simple Google search brings up tons of articles on this. This is why I don’t start these things. Because when the argument doesn’t go your way you want to stop talking about it.

[thefactor]

"Because when the argument doesn’t go your way you want to stop talking about it."

Lol. Pointing out the extremely biased source (a teachers union of all things) does not imply I want to stop talking about it.

[dragnet2]

Florida’s own citizens, who are battling homeowner insurance rates nearly triple the national average.

LOL!

[tinamina]

I was on the Insurance committee at our very condo community in Florida. I did a lot of studying on this issue and one of the things I learned was that when the Champlain Towers fell because the homeowners association did not want to invest in the repairs so desperately needed per inspection results, that governor DeSantis ordered the insurance companies to pay the claim anyway. That’s when the insurance premiums really started to climb. The homeowners negligence caused the building to fall, but that they were anbsolved and the insurance companies were forced to pay in record time. That’s when insurance companies started leaving Florida, and the prices started doubling.
Then, when the premiums doubled for everybody in the state, the state insurance commissioner would not cooperate with the legislature to get them the records they needed to look at it, objectively and make a proper law to fix the situation. That’s what our state representative told us directly anyway. I guess they could lead the blame there. Then they dropped the issue this legislative session for some reason. Political donations from insurance companies, perhaps?

[tlozo]

DeSantis, who ran a successful re-election campaign last year, and Friends of Ron DeSantis, a political action committee that supported him, have taken a combined $3.9m in contributions from insurance industry players

This is news to anyone? Lobbying money from insurance industry usually favors Republicans while lobbying money from attorneys usually favors democrats.

5 Law Firms That Bankroll the Democratic Party

https://bluetent.us/articles/campaigns-elections/5-big-law-firms-bankrolling-the-democratic-pary/

[mbrfl]

That’s my Governor!

[VeniVidiVici]

I’m looking at the check for my 1998 basic homeowners insurance - $169. The windstorm was $256 extra as I remember.

And the house I bought in '92 for $89K is supposedly worth $450K now.

Wonder if that might have something to do with it?

[aMorePerfectUnion]

—> Not a peep from our governor about any of these huge increases.

Strange, huh??

[M. Thatcher]

Please tell me why you think this is the case.

That's not how this works. At all. The insurance-hike insanity is a political vulnerability for the governor, like it or not.

I live here. People generally like the gov, but skyrocketing insurance costs are a HUGE budget bite, and state pocketbook issues land on the governor. Always have, always will.

[thefactor]

Wait a minute.

You state that insurance rates have skyrocketed in Florida. I ask you why that has happened, and you tell me that's not how it works. WTF?

[tlozo]

Not a peep from our governor about any of these huge increases.

Not a "peep from our governor"? Okay

Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Two Bills to Support Disaster Relief and Help Stabilize Florida’s Property Insurance Market-December 16, 2022

Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed two bills following the special session that took place this week. Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill (SB) 4-A which provides $750 million for additional disaster relief to Floridians following Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. The Governor also signed SB 2-A,the most significant property insurance reform bill in recent history which helps to stabilize our property insurance market, increase competition, and strengthen consumer protections. More on actions taken during the recent special session can be found here.

https://www.flgov.com/2022/12/16/governor-ron-desantis-signs-two-bills-to-support-disaster-relief-and-help-stabilize-floridas-property-insurance-market/