We often talk about the promises an insurer makes in exchange for a policyholder’s premiums. In the law, some of those promises are referred to as “duties,” with the most important being the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify. Generally, the duty to defend is seen as the more important of the two, and when you think about how the claims process works (or doesn’t work), it makes sense.
Florida is a state of numerous exhibitions, museums and centers for the display and development of different kinds of art. Works of art placed in museums or brought to them in traveling exhibitions are largely owned by outside parties. Insurance coverage must be obtained for all artwork that appears for exhibit or that is permanently situated. Unfortunately, if an insane rampage by someone results in massive damage and destruction of insured pieces, a virtual hornet’s nest of insurance claims and litigation may result.
Try not to get too excited about a hurricane-free 2015, Florida. Chances are your property insurance premiums will not know the difference. Nor, for that matter, will your auto insurance rates respond to the news that we are not the worst drivers in the country.
Florida has not seen a hurricane in 10 years, and the state’s ranking for worst drivers has improved dramatically over the past five years. Why, then, are our homeowners and auto insurance rates among the highest if not the highest in the nation? It seems unfair, but no one said insurance rates were fair. Reasonable, maybe — but not fair.
This week marks an important milestone for Florida: We have officially completed 10 years of relatively quiet hurricane seasons, the longest stretch without a hurricane making landfall in 160 years of tracking such data. That, insurance companies will tell you, is a long time.
The Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal decided a case in September that illustrates just how tough it can be to fight an insurance company. It also shows that Chinese drywall complaints are still working their ways through insurance companies and the courts, but the insurance companies have taken steps to avoid paying homeowners’ claims.
After an accident, no one wants to spend time fighting an insurance company. If you are injured, you want to focus on getting better. If your property is damaged, you just want it fixed so you can move on with your life. If you have lost a loved one, you need time to mourn and to adjust to the abrupt change in your life.
There are few things you can really count on these days, but one of them is that Florida will rank among the most expensive states for insurance. We ranked third overall in a report recently released by financial analysis website NerdWallet.com. The researchers looked at the average costs of homeowners, health, life and auto insurance in each state and the District of Columbia and then determined what portion of the state’s median household income was spent on insurance.
The Office of the Insurance Consumer Advocate is celebrating its unofficial 25th anniversary this year. The Florida Insurance Commissioner originally created the office in 1990. The Legislature, however, did not adopt the governing statutes until 1992. The advocate is now appointed by and reports to the state’s Chief Financial Officer but operates, as the position always has, as an independent entity.
Although insurance-related considerations and needs are of course quite different in many respects for homes and businesses, respectively, they certainly do coalesce in one very important way, namely this: Regardless of the nature of a property, its owners need to protect against third-party liability in instances where it is alleged that some danger or defect resulted in personal injury.
