Health care workers struggling to get insurance
According to reports, Florida’s health care workers are having trouble affording health insurance. The whole thing is somewhat ironic, as these people are within the industry.
According to reports, Florida’s health care workers are having trouble affording health insurance. The whole thing is somewhat ironic, as these people are within the industry.
It isn’t often that you run across a story about insurance that is even close to being tabloid fodder. We feel it incumbent on us to seize on those rare occasions, then, even if the cases are not from Florida. The insurance carrier in the story, State Farm (technically, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company), certainly does business in Florida, but the people involved do not live here, and the events leading up to the claim did not happen here.
This is a case that involves movie stars, racketeering, conspiracy, eavesdropping and an insurance claim. There is no direct connection to Florida — which may be a good thing.
We are back to talking about the class action lawsuit filed in federal court against a homeowners property insurance company. The lead plaintiffs in the case estimate that as many as 100,000 policyholders could be the victims of the insurer’s contract breach.
Often, when insurance companies deny claims, they do it under the pretext of asserting that some element of the policyholder’s story puts the validity of the claim into question. In most cases, this is nothing more than the insurance company trying to save money by delaying or denying valid claims.
We are continuing our discussion from our last post. The subject is a class action lawsuit filed in a Florida federal court in which the plaintiffs say their homeowners insurance company increased their coverage and raised their premiums without their consent. Generally, state law dictates that an insurance company notify policyholders of any change in coverage in writing, allowing policyholders enough time to cancel their policies without incurring penalties.
A Florida couple is leading the charge on behalf of an estimated 100,000 homeowners whose insurance coverage was increased without their approval. By upping the coverage, the plaintiffs say, the insurance company was able to raise premiums, again without the consent of the policyholders.
A class action lawsuit against five major U.S. mortgage lenders cannot proceed, according to a decision from a Miami federal judge. The plaintiffs were suing Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and HSBC, as well as two insurance companies, regarding the practice of forcing homeowners to pay higher-than-average premiums for insurance when their coverage lapses. The court did say that the 21 plaintiffs could file individual suits if they wished.
Lawmakers continue to say that their road to depopulating Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is paved with good intentions. The Florida Legislature is considering a number of bills that would move policyholders out of the state-backed insurer and into the private market. We have been reviewing the provisions included in Senate Bill 7018, including its revamped rating scheme, its step-down plans for limiting the value of eligible homes and its approach to clearing out-of-state homeowners from Citizens’ rolls.
We are still reviewing the provisions of Senate Bill 7018, one of the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. reform proposals being considered by the Florida Legislature. In our last two posts, we discussed how the bill would change the rating structure and how it would limit eligibility for more expensive homes over the next few years.
