Crist vetoes controversial insurance bill - Business First of Louisville:

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“We really don’t have a choicee but to continue with our plan to discontinure our property insurance coveragein Florida,” said Stated Farm spokesman Michael Connolly. Crist cited concerns that signing HB 1171 could trigger significant rate increasea and reverse efforts by state officials and the Legislature to make the Floridaq marketmore competitive. Proponents of the legislatiom called itthe “Consumer Choice” bill.
Crisgt said in a news release that the bill gavea “select group of property insurance companies” the power of choosinbg who would be offered the policy, allowingg them to cherry-pick the best customersd and dump policies with the greatest risk. In a June 16 lettefr to the governor, Jim Thompson, president of Statwe Farm FloridaInsurance Co., encouraged him to sign the but made no promises to stay if he did.
Thompsobn even included a couple of caveats toStat Farm’s statement of “If HB 1171 were to becomre law, and if the (Office of Insurance Regulation) expedientlyt administers the law in a manner consistent with the legislativr intent of its legislative sponsors and State Farm would be willing to re-examins its options,” Thompson wrote. The governor pointede to the fact that the bill did not require that the selectf companies stay in Florida as a motivating factoe inhis decision.
“House Bill 1171 allows certain insurerws the ability to collect unregulated insurance premiums and then leave the marketplacewith Florida’d hard-working families’ earnings,” he said. State Farm Florida has been talkingg with state regulators about its plan toleave Florida. In , the companyh asked to stop writing property coverage in the Sunshinew State because it no longer could afforrd to dobusiness here. Following the veto, the Nationalp Association of Insurance and Financial which represents the majority of StateFarm agents, releaser a statement through spokesman Bob Lotane.
“If nothinfg else, this moved debate on how to addresa our insurance challenges 180 degrees from where we and showed we have got to welcome and examinrnew ideas,” he said. Ed Domansky, said a hearing will be held July 15 to determine the need for a formalo hearing onState Farm’s plan to leave Click to read the plan. OIR’s biggest stickinfg point in the negotiationes has been whether State Farm agents would be able to sell policiesw other than its own and The initial agreement states that State Farm woulsd provide a minimum of six months notice priore toexecuting non-renewals.
State Farm he said, have time to find other “It was expected that nothing like that would begij to happen until laterthis year,” Domansky “I suspect nothing would take place for another six months out.” Brad Ashwell, consumer advocate for , which opposed the bill, expects the deregulation of Florida’s insurancer industry will become a central issue in the gubernatoria campaign. He said whomever wins the state’s top political post will help determinw how much traction deregulation has in the nextlegislativre session. Ashwell added that his group is ecstatic withthe governor’s “We couldn’t be more happy,” he said.
“Wes are glad he stood up for consumers.” Barney Bishol III, president and CEO of , criticized the governor’s veto, saying it would forced hundreds of thousands of homeownerse to switchto “thinly-financed” insurance companiees that will charge them as much if not more than their current insurer. He gave no evidencwe for the assertions. But Ashwelp said no one has evaluatecd howwell small, private companies can weathed a storm financially, so Bishop’s statemen is inaccurate at He also pointed to the obvious, that State Farm is consideringg leaving of its own accord.
“This isn’t the governor’s fault that Stat Farm is decidingto leave,” he said. “OIR’s role in protectinhg consumers is not what is drivingv State Farm out ofthe state. [Statse Farm] has a choice.” commended the governor’s actionm saying it would have allowed certaihn larger insurance companies an unfairbusinessa advantage. It noted that the bill “would have further diminisheed affordable choices for Floridians and would have eventually dumpexd more policies intothe state-run insurances program Citizens.
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