News & Resources

Yesterday we discussed legislation involving auto insurance reform. Some lawmakers want to reform Florida’s no-fault auto insurance law in order to protect insurance companies from bad faith insurance litigation. There is still much debate on whether reform is needed and what form any legislation should take. It is also unclear whether any of the proposed bills would eliminate the need for auto insurance litigation, which is necessary for many policyholders to enforce their rights against unscrupulous insurance companies seeking to cut costs.

In our last post we discussed legislation tackling bad faith insurance litigation reform. Bad faith insurance litigation is not the only insurance topic to make it into this legislative session. The state insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty believes that this will be the year that lawmakers finally make reforms to Florida’s no-fault auto insurance law.

Florida is one of seven states to sign a settlement with Prudential Financial in a death benefits dispute. The multi-state investigation into the insurance industry’s treatment of unpaid life insurance benefits began last May. The settlement requires Prudential, the second-largest life insurer in the country, to institute procedural changes and to pay $17 million to the states to fund compliance monitoring.

“Katrina’s coming,” a Florida state congressman told his colleagues recently. He was urging them to vote for legislation that would allow alternative hurricane insurance to what is provided by the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Co. The bill passed 66-48 and will go to the state Senate next.

Every so often, there is a news story about a wealthy woman who has left her multimillion dollar mansion to her cat. Or, there’s some guy working out a divorce who insists that he needs $15,000 a week to let his dogs live in the style to which they’ve become accustomed. At times those stories will include little snippets about insurance, too.

We are talking about the cruise liner that crashed and foundered off the coast of Italy. The story of the wreck may well become legend — the captain faces criminal charges — but our focus is the role of insurance in helping the survivors and the families of the dead and missing to rebuild their lives.

After the cruise ship accident off the coast of Italy last week, many of us will look a little differently at the ships docked at the Port of Miami. In the insurance business, it is hard not to wonder if cruising has become so mundane that travelers forget the risks involved. Granted, the situation with the Costa Concordia was unusual. But the question lingers: Are passengers assuming that the cruise line will take care of everything in an emergency, or have they protected their own interests by purchasing trip insurance?

During presidential campaign years, early primary states like Florida can benefit as candidates and their entourages make their ways from corner store to neighborhood restaurant, wooing voters at every turn. Business owners should check their general liability insurance, though, because a candidate visit can be a mixed blessing. In our last post, we were talking about some of the problems businesses have to deal with during campaigns, including having a large group of people in a small café or boutique.

The Florida primary is coming up, and the state is gearing up for the campaign stops and the stump speeches. This summer, Florida will host the Republican National Convention. The state’s hospitality industry is looking forward to the economic boom that comes with all this political activity, but individual business owners may want to think about the risks that come with large crowds. Now is the time to review property and commercial general liability insurance coverage.

As Florida’s insurance industry and lawmakers gear up for the coming legislative session, a trade association for risk managers is asking for more sweeping reform. The Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. wants the federal government to promulgate uniform, national regulations for commercial insurance.