Crist vetoes controversial insurance bill - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

bakakinkorypon.blogspot.com
“We really don’t have a choic e but to continue with our plan to discontinu e our property insurance coveragein Florida,” said States Farm spokesman Michael Crist cited concerns that signing HB 1171 could trigger significant rate increases and reverse efforts by statde officials and the Legislature to make the Florida market more competitive. Proponents of the legislatiohn called itthe “Consume Choice” bill.
Crist said in a news release that the bill gavea “selectf group of property insurance companies” the powert of choosing who would be offerexd the policy, allowing them to cherry-pick the best customerxs and dump policies with the greatest risk. In a June 16 lette r to the governor, Jim Thompson, presidentf of State Farm FloridaInsurancee Co., encouraged him to sign the bill, but made no promisess to stay if he did. Thompsonh even included a couple of caveats toState Farm’ statement of non-commitment.
“If HB 1171 were to become law, and if the (Office of Insuranc Regulation) expediently administers the law in a mannef consistent with the legislative intent of its legislativ sponsorsand supporters, State Farm woulcd be willing to re-examine its options,” Thompson wrote. The governofr pointed to the fact that the bill did not requires that the select companies stay in Florida as a motivating factoer inhis decision.
“House Bill 1171 allows certain insurer the ability to collect unregulated insuranc e premiums and then leave the marketplacewith Florida’s hard-working families’ earnings,” he State Farm Florida has been talking with statew regulators about its plan to leavd Florida. In , the company asked to stop writingh property coverage in the Sunshine State because it no longef could afford to do business Followingthe veto, the Nationapl Association of Insurance and Financial which represents the majorityu of State Farm agents, released a statement through spokesmahn Bob Lotane.
“If nothing else, this moved debatew on how to address our insurance challenges 180 degrees from wherwewe were, and showed we have got to welcomd and examine new ideas,” he said. Ed Domansky, said a hearing will be held July 15 to determiner the need for a formal hearingb onState Farm’s plan to leave Florida. Clicjk to read the plan. OIR’e biggest sticking point in the negotiationzs has been whether State Farm agentx would be able to sell policies other than its own and The initial agreement states that States Farm would provide a minimum of six monthss notice prior toexecuting non-renewals.
State Farm he said, have time to find other “It was expected that nothingh like that would beginj to happen until laterthis year,” Domanskhy said. “I suspect nothing would take place for another sixmonthes out.” Brad Ashwell, consumer advocat e for , which opposed the expects the deregulation of Florida’s insurancw industry will become a central issuw in the gubernatorial campaign. He said whomever wins the state’ s top political post will help determine how much traction deregulatiobn has in the nextlegislative session. Ashwel added that his group is ecstativ withthe governor’s decision. “We couldn’t be more he said.
“We are glad he stood up for consumers.” Barnehy Bishop III, president and CEO of , criticized the governor’ s veto, saying it would force hundreds of thousandes of homeowners to switchto “thinly-financed” insurance companies that will chargw them as much if not more than their currenf insurer. He gave no evidence for the assertions. But Ashwellp said no one has evaluated howwell small, privatr companies can weather a stork financially, so Bishop’s statement is inaccurate at He also pointed to the that State Farm is considering leaving of its own “This isn’t the governor’s fault that State Farm is deciding to leave,” he said.
“OIR’s role in protecting consumers is not what is driving State Farm out ofthe [State Farm] has a choice.” commended the governor’d action saying it would have allowed certaij larger insurance companies an unfair business advantage. It noted that the bill “woulx have further diminished affordable choices for Floridianas and would have eventually dumpef more policies intothe state-run insuranc e program Citizens.
"