The business community believes trial lawyers hold the upper hand in the Legislature for the first time in years. The business community is not happy about that. Read more from Florida Politics here
Despite warnings in February of looming downgrades, insurance ratings firm Demotech has decided not to reduce financial strength ratings of any Florida carriers below A. Read more from the Sun-Sentinel here
A state law that was originally intended to give individual policyholders special rights in disputes with their insurance companies is instead being used by some repair vendors and their lawyers to generate a self-serving windfall. The problem is serious and growing, and it’s driving insurance costs higher and higher. Read more from William Large, President of the [...]
Florida's assignment of benefits (AOB) crisis can be partly blamed on a small number of lawyers and service providers who have helped fuel the explosive growth in lawsuits brought against insurers in recent years, a new study shows. Read more from Insurance Insider here
A new House bill aims to reduce costly litigation against insurers by forcing benefits assignees to risk paying insurers’ attorneys fees if they lose. Read more from the Sun-Sentinel here
Hurricane season is still more than three months away, but a different kind of tempest is threatening Florida property insurers, their policyholders and the state’s economy. Read more from the Orlando Sentinel here
Florida’s insurance industry will apply significant pressure on lawmakers to pass assignments of benefit (AOB) reform in the upcoming legislative session as consumers face rate increases and a looming coverage availability crisis due to serious and costly abuse of the policyholder benefit. Read more from Insurance Journal here
As the Legislature debates restricting attorney fees in insurance litigation involving assignment-of-benefits agreements, a tort-reform group has identified a way to circumvent that fix. Attorneys could convince policyholders to file suit in their own name. Read more from Florida Politics here
The Florida Property & Casualty Association, representing a number of state-based companies, said this in a statement: “Ratings agency Demotech recently issued a press release advising they are making changes in the way they evaluate home insurance companies in Florida. This reflects their view of the state’s property insurance market which is deteriorating because of claim fraud, assignment of benefits abuse, and [...]
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced Friday that he plans to leave his post at the end of the legislative session to take a job at Florida Atlantic University. Read more from Politico Florida here