News & Resources

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.

Senate Bill 7018 will go a long way toward moving Florida homeowners out of state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and into the private insurance market, according to the bill’s authors. The overriding goal is to depopulate (the Senate’s term) Citizens.

The Florida Senate Banking and Insurance subcommittee has sent a bill to the full Senate that would revamp Citizens Property Insurance Corp. significantly. Members of the committee say the bill would take Citizens back to its roots as the insurer of last resort for the state’s residents. The company is currently the largest insurer in the state with 1.2 million policies.

Last September, the owner of a Seffner, Florida, home decided to buy sinkhole insurance. He says he had never really considered it before. An inspector came to the house, checked things out and gave him the thumbs up.

Given: The State of Florida will assess every property insurance policyholder if Citizens Property Insurance Corp. cannot pay all of its claims from its reserve. Assessments are the last resort for the state-run insurer of last resort. Citizens will not fold unless (or until) the Legislature says it will fold.

Once again, the Florida Legislature is debating ways to move Florida residents off Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s rolls. The state-backed insurer is the largest property insurance carrier in the state, and lawmakers continue to worry that the company’s reserves will not survive a major catastrophe. If that happens, everyone loses, according to Citizens’ critics.

Well, if Florida didn’t have enough to boast about, we do now! The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recently released a comparison of insurance expenditures by state and by nation. Florida, the fourth most populous state, ranks third in the U.S. for insurance expenditures. We shell out more every year than developing nations do.

Industry numbers are coming in for fourth quarter 2012, and there is not much good news for property/casualty insurance customers. According to the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers’ Commercial P/C Market Index, commercial coverage premiums jumped 5 percent on average during the last three months of the year. The Southeast U.S., including Florida, followed the national trend.