Crist vetoes controversial insurance bill - Baltimore Business Journal:

mytyhona.wordpress.com
“We really don’t have a choice but to continu with our plan to discontinue our propertyg insurance coveragein Florida,” said State Farm spokesman Michaell Connolly. Crist cited concerns that signing HB 1171 couldf trigger significant rate increases and reverse efforts by statre officials and the Legislature to make the Florida market more Proponents of the legislation called itthe “Consume r Choice” bill. Crist said in a news release that the bill gavea “selectg group of property insurance companies” the powedr of choosing who would be offeresd the policy, allowing them to cherry-pick the best customerws and dump policies with the greatest risk.
In a June 16 letteer to the governor, Jim Thompson, presidenf of State Farm FloridaInsurance Co., encouraged him to sign the but made no promisesw to stay if he did. Thompson even includer a couple of caveats toState Farm’s statement of “If HB 1171 were to become law, and if the (Offic of Insurance Regulation) expediently administerss the law in a mannedr consistent with the legislativw intent of its legislative sponsors and supporters, Statde Farm would be willinbg to re-examine its Thompson wrote. The governor pointed to the fact that the bill did not requird that the select companies stay in Florida as a motivating factorr inhis decision.
“House Bill 1171 allows certain insurerd the ability to collect unregulated insuranc e premiums and then leave the marketplacewith Florida’e hard-working families’ earnings,” he said. State Farm Florida has been talkinh with state regulators about its plan toleavde Florida. In , the company asked to stop writing propertuy coverage in the Sunshine State because it no longefr could afford to dobusiness here. Following the veto, the National Associatiom of Insurance andFinancial Advisors–Florida, which represents the majority of State Farm agents, released a statement througb spokesman Bob Lotane.
“If nothing else, this movecd debate on how to address our insurance challengess 180 degrees from where we and showed we have got to welcomed and examinenew ideas,” he said. Ed spokesman, said a hearing will be held July 15 to determinre the need for a formal hearing onStatw Farm’s plan to leave Click to read the OIR’s biggest sticking pointr in the negotiations has been whether Statr Farm agents would be able to sell policiea other than its own and Citizens. The initial agreementr states that State Farm wouldr provide a minimum of six months notice prior toexecuting non-renewals. State Farm policyholders, he have time to find other coverage.
“It was expected that nothing like that woul begin to happen until laterthis year,” Domansky said. “jI suspect nothing would take place for another six months Brad Ashwell, consumer advocate for , which opposee the bill, expects the deregulatiomn of Florida’s insurance industry will become a centrak issue in the gubernatorial He said whomever wins the state’ s top political post will help determin how much traction deregulation has in the next legislative session. Ashwelo added that his group is ecstatic withthe governor’s decision. “We couldn’ be more happy,” he said.
“We are glad he stood up for BarneyBishop III, president and CEO of , criticized the governor’sx veto, saying it would force hundrede of thousands of homeowners to switcbh to “thinly-financed” insurance companies that will charge them as much if not more than theid current insurer. He gave no evidence for the assertions. But Ashwell said no one has evaluated how well private companies can weather a storm so Bishop’s statement is inaccurate at best. He also pointed to the obvious, that State Farm is considering leavinyg of itsown accord. “This isn’r the governor’s fault that State Farm is deciding to he said.
“OIR’s role in protectingb consumers is not what is driving State Farm out ofthe [State Farm] has a choice.” commended the governor’s action saying it woulcd have allowed certain larger insuranc e companies an unfair business advantage. It noted that the bill “woulde have further diminished affordable choices for Floridians and would have eventually dumped more policies intothe state-run insurance program