An insurance company’s unusual move may have put it smack in the middle of a local political skirmish. This is not happening in Florida, but the situation brings up interesting questions about insurance coverage of public entities and policy cancellations in general.
In the past few months, Florida and six other states have entered into settlement agreements with three life insurance companies regarding their failure to do due diligence in identifying deceased insureds and their beneficiaries. The states’ efforts began a couple of years ago and have already resulted in a number of insurers paying multi-million dollar settlements, revising internal processes or both. See our Oct. 12, 2012, post for information about the deal reached with Nationwide Financial Services Inc.
The federal shutdown may have motivated the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend the deadline for Superstorm Sandy victims to file an important insurance form. Pressure from Congress may have helped, too: Realizing that many of their constituents may not have the information needed for the form and that some may not even know about either the form or the deadline, 22 senators and representatives signed a letter to FEMA asking for an extension.
The Miami Herald reported recently that a group of Florida seventh-graders were staging a hurricane simulation. They would learn how to prepare for and recover from a storm. For those of us who have been in Florida for a while, the idea of having to simulate a hurricane sounds a little odd, until you realize that these kids have not experienced a major storm in their young lives — at least, not one they remember.
After our multi-post discussion of the National Flood Insurance Program and rising premiums for Florida homeowners, we came across a story about a couple of flood insurance coverage issues that we thought worth sharing. The story does not involve Florida property owners, but it does involve hurricane-damaged homes, something many of us know well.
We are wrapping up our discussion of a recent Florida Court of Appeal decision. An auto insurance company had denied coverage to a man who had been injured in a golf cart accident. The insured was at fault, but he had been driving a modified golf cart, one that could exceed the average 20 mph maximum speed and, so, could be driven on public roads.
We are still talking about a recent Florida court of appeal decision in an auto insurance case. The decision is noteworthy because it involves golf carts — specifically, a modified golf cart driven on a public road. Generally, the only way to get a golf cart to go above 20 miles an hour is to make some modifications. The owner of the insured in this case had done just that, ostensibly so he could drive on public roads.
It is impossible to ignore the fact that Baby Boomers are getting older. For Florida, a state dotted with retirement communities, this is good news. For Florida drivers, however, there is a distinct downside: Older drivers tend to have slower reflexes and slower reaction times behind the wheel, and, as a result, they are more likely to be in accidents. Baby Boomers grew up with their cars, though, so getting them to give up driving is an uphill battle.
When you ask someone who lives in Miami what it is they love, they might say that the weather is fantastic, others may mention the culture and some may talk about the nightlife. But if there is one thing that everyone living on the coast of Florida shares, it is the threat of a hurricane.
When you applied for your homeowners’ insurance policy, did you disclose any liens filed against you or anything else from your past that might have marred your credit history? Are you sure about your response?
