Posted On: February 11, 2008, 8:51 am CST

Posted By: Insurance Junkie

The insurance industry has tried to work with the Florida government - however, they no longe want to work with us. This is clear based on HB1A passed last January and the witch hunt being displayed in the Senate Committee this month.

The problems are not related to just homeowners insurance; personal auto is also affected. Drivers have figured out its cheaper to let their insurance lapse and pay the fee if caught without coverage then to maintain an auto policy. The Florida DMV does not seem to have any authority or desire to prosecute these offenders. Who does this hurt? It puts an additional financial burden on the carrier of the affected driver - who now has to pay for damages caused by the fault of another driver! And the at fault driver then is only slapped with a small fine; there is no justice in that.

Crist has been gunning against the industry since he was Attorney General. The legislature is too afraid to admit they made bad legislative mistakes last year. So now it's a waiting game until the next storm hits to prove how bad the changes instituted by HB1A are.

Wrap your minds around this - should a storm hit and Citizens institute a new assessment - this will affect ALL policies in Florida except workers comp and med mal. That means you will see a Citizens Assessment not just on your howeowners, but on your car insurance, personal umbrella, corporate insurance policies - EVERYTHING.

Had the legislature not expanded Citizens (a carrier of last resort) to mirror a standard company, there would have been no need to expand the assessment base.

Luckily the other gulf states have watched the legislative activity in Florida and decided it was not prudent to follow them.