Clearly you have never looked into the laws regarding insurance deregulation…insurance deregulation, which exists in about 20 states has never done anything to the market except make it more competitive. Sure it gives the insurers the ability to charge higher rates, however there is always some company willing to try to obtain market share by undercutting someone else’s price. This keeps the rates honest and more in line with the proper actuarial projects. Companies don’t just bleed the consumer, they price the accounts where they can make money after paying the liabilities.
Read a book on running a business – you sell your product at fair market value under supply and demand as long as the costs are less than the revenues.
Of course Charley will veto any pro-business property bill. He is afterall the “Peoples Gov”. He is proud of the way he has governed. Remember when he took office, he refused to meet with ins. co. executives? The entire insurance industry is BAD. Sounds like Obama with the health care ins. co’s. Charley is the BAD one. He is by far the wosrt Republican Gov. Florida has ever had. Where does he get that tan? Must be working a lot outside for the people of Florida. Florida will be better off without him and the controls he has over the OIR regulators. Too bad though all the work he did to supress south Florida rates for the “voters” aren’t voting for him now. Used his own political aspirations in the decision making process. He will lose the senate race!!!!!
Crist wants you to use the People’s Insurance Company which has already proven that there isn’t enough money to pay claims. I can’t believe this guy parades as a conservative.
What are you talking about Actuary? He said we’d be better off without State Farm. He also said if the private companies wanted to gouge, the People’s Insurance Company was there to help.
afterall, if we had read previoius articles, there are still many claims that still have not been paid. if you read, even the peoples insurance company is trying to raise it’s rates. so the Gov’r did not hold to his promise either. he got the votes to put him in office, but is finding out that his promises are not holding true to protect the floridians. the next gov’r will have his hands full.
Deregulation may be okay for certain lines of insurance such as commercial inland marine, warranties, and some specialized professional liability but not property insurance. It will fail if launched since rates will get jacked up and insureds won’t be able to pay and hence companies won’t get the premium. Also there are no consumer protections in place due to abuse that tends to arise from lack of regulation. If enacted the regulation will eventually come back as history tends to repeat itself.
Another article which details the ramifications coming in the event of a major storm. All of these under capitalized carriers with their common ownership of MGA’a sucking all the money out of them will come home to roost soon.
We need some sort of federal backed reinsurance plan for the entire southeast US and include earthquakes for California. Just one thought.
Mellisa, Obviously you do not believe in capitalism and probably support Obama’s plan to socialize our nation.
Competition reduces premiums and greed raises premiums, somewhere in the middle is the true value of the product. That is capitalism, That is American.
One comment was Charlie was one of the worst Republican governors…change that to “one of the worst EVER governors, of either party”. It is almost sad how politicians like Charlie get elected over and over…and usually move UP. Not sure we in FL have many good choices for Senator, but hopefully Good Time Charlie will not fill that seat!
Obviously not too many people understand insurance, or banking for that matter inlcuding Crist and Bush. Bush told The Associated Press. “People aren’t required to buy any insurance….” Apparently he never applied for a mortgage to buy a home.
Complete deregulation won’t work because the State of FL is entirely a high risk area. Insurers will increase rates if de- regulated. With the current state system of regulation the only really efficient way to handle catastrophic risks is via a national pooling arrangement ala the Flood Program or how european countries like France and Spain handle this.
A national pool is nothing more than a government takeover. Frankly there is enough reinsurance available for a thriving private market. It’s rate suppression stupid! We don’t have a capacity problem, we have a rate problem.
Any of you jockeying for government takeover must not value private markets and must enjoy the 5.5% Citizens paycheck.
Crist is absolutely clueless. He’s lost a 30 point advantage over Rubio, and he will continue losing more. People are sick of his inability to deal with the truth, and the polls are showing it. His property insurance plan is a disaster for Florida, like his senate campaign.
Charlie should have stepped up and told Floridians that “insurance premiums were going to go up, no matter what I do. I can try to force insurers to operate at a loss, but that’s going nowhere. No conspiracy theories or big, bad, evil, insurance boogeymen. We live in hurricane alley. Florida gets hurricanes. Get with a good insurer. Harden your homes. And pray that we don’t ever owe so much through Citizens and the CAT Fund assessmenst that we have to institute a state income tax. Now, let’s sign HB 447 and figure out how to save Florida jobs.”
is the government meddling in the private marketplace. Everytime the government gets involved another business dies and taxes go up. Let insurers determine the rates, actively pursue getting regional and national carriers into the Florida marketplace and watch competition do its thing. In 3 years we will have a strong, sound property market will less risk of insolvency.
Melissa, if Crist hadn’t vetoed that bill last year, I’d bet State Farm wouldn’t be dropping another 125,000 policies in Florida.
Let’s get clear about what we’re talking about here – it’s relief from PRICE CONTROLS, not a total deregulation of insurance. The price controls that have driven out all the big insurers with deep pockets to pay claims, and substituted them with new, thinly capitalized Florida domestics who are struggling to survive, even after 5 years of no hurricanes, or bleeding the surplus through the use of MGAs. It’s not working.
Has deregulation of price controls ever been tried in Florida? How do you know it won’t work? Seems like our political leaders have tried everything, yet, here are, one hurrciane away from a major meltdown for the state govt, every small insurer, and millions of Florida homeowners. Not working.
There are two real choices:
1) Nationalizing property insurance. Kind of like having the govt provide all the insurance and deciding who pays what. Yes, I can see it now…if you don’t get insurance on your house, the govt can “fine” you or send the IRS after you. All properties will be covered, whether you want insurance or not. Sound familiar?
2) Let the free market work. Prices will go up in the short term, but companies will flock to the Florida market and prices will drop with increased competition.
I’d say let’s try #2. It’s obvious that what we have now isn’t working. We need to pass HB 447.
This issue regarding Florida Property insurance is ours (Florida’s) to solve – no one else is going to be willing to step up and foot the bill for our exposure to hurricanes. So, while I agree that we should at least push for a nNtional Cat plan, I don’t expect people in other states to buy into that anytime soon. I also don’t expect them to want to pay more for their insurance just because they are insured by a national carrier that also does business in Florida at a loss.
Our state govt is struggling to balance a budget with less and less resources and more and more demands. Legislators are completely ignoring the fact that we have over $20 billion in unfunded liabilities through Citizens and the CAT Fund, and it’s growing by leaps and bounds everyday.
Big insurers have been leaving in droves since 2004, fed up with price controls and a governor who works against finding viable solutions in favor of using insurers as whipping posts.
Startup insurers have been coming in to take over using lots of leverage and little of their own capital to start operations, while they set up MGAs to bleed the companies of surplus and walk away with millions. It not really competition. Many of those companies will fold as soon as a storm hits.
What’s left???
We need more competition in Florida through less price controls. We need companies to want to do business in Florida instead of them trying to figure out how they can leave. We need an Insurance Commissioner who understands that his first priority should be making sure insurance companies will be able to pay claims, instead of one who is an extension of an ambitious politician. And we need a governor to get his head out of his rear and confess that his plan isn’t working, and it’s time for another approach.
Wrong, I’m a convervative republican and against Obamacare. However, some industries still require some regulation which include insurance. Anyway this has nothing to do with health insurance but property insurance. Can’t compare apples and oranges.
Cotyre I believe in free markets but the reality is that some regulation is needed whether is accepted or not. You have to deal with the nature of human behavior, abuses caused from deregulation, and needed consumer protections in order to keep market healthy. Pure capitalism doesn’t work anyway.
problem is you are depending on Washington, DC or the State of Florida to protect its consumers. Who is going to protect them from the politicians and special interests? I personally trust companies more than I do politicians.
Throughout his career, McCarty has cited three main principles that have guided his vision of government’s role in society: 1) Government should serve and ultimately be accountable to the people; 2) Government should be transparent in its operations, and treat its clients fairly and equitably; and 3) Government should protect those who are unable to protect themselves.
He has failed at ALL three. (1) Only has been accountable to this Gov. (2) Doesn’t treat co’s fairly, Ie. State Farm, All other Natls’s, and all the co’s who have been threatened lately and (3) The poor voters in SF who need his help to supress rates!
1. All insurers first of all want to stay solvent. They must have rates high enough to allow for that. If rates are kept artificially low then the strong cos. like State Farm will drastically reduce the number of policies they will write, and
2. The weaker cos. will go out of business, throwing their liabilites onto the Guarantee Fund which gets passed back to the remaining insurers, who, by law, pass it straight back to the policyholders.
Insurance cos. are like everybody else, once they see a chance to make a profit, they begin writing more business. The easiest way to do that is with lower premiums. Eventually this goes to far because insurers never know in advance what their losses will be like, so they overshoot the mark with prices too low. So they correct, return to profitability, and the cycle begins again.
Overall, on average, you pay what the loss climate dictates for cos. to make a profit.
If they see they can’t make a profit, they take their marbles and go home.
It really is that simple, and it really does work just that way.
Can’t compare insurance laws from different states along with risks. Hurricane don’t exist in Illinois for example who doesn’t regulate. That’s why all the big companies hang out there.
Melissa,
Clearly you have never looked into the laws regarding insurance deregulation…insurance deregulation, which exists in about 20 states has never done anything to the market except make it more competitive. Sure it gives the insurers the ability to charge higher rates, however there is always some company willing to try to obtain market share by undercutting someone else’s price. This keeps the rates honest and more in line with the proper actuarial projects. Companies don’t just bleed the consumer, they price the accounts where they can make money after paying the liabilities.
Read a book on running a business – you sell your product at fair market value under supply and demand as long as the costs are less than the revenues.
Of course Charley will veto any pro-business property bill. He is afterall the “Peoples Gov”. He is proud of the way he has governed. Remember when he took office, he refused to meet with ins. co. executives? The entire insurance industry is BAD. Sounds like Obama with the health care ins. co’s. Charley is the BAD one. He is by far the wosrt Republican Gov. Florida has ever had. Where does he get that tan? Must be working a lot outside for the people of Florida. Florida will be better off without him and the controls he has over the OIR regulators. Too bad though all the work he did to supress south Florida rates for the “voters” aren’t voting for him now. Used his own political aspirations in the decision making process. He will lose the senate race!!!!!
Crist wants you to use the People’s Insurance Company which has already proven that there isn’t enough money to pay claims. I can’t believe this guy parades as a conservative.
He’s a plant for the progressive liberals?
That’s not true. If he wanted more people in Citizens, he would have gladly let State Farm leave.
What are you talking about Actuary? He said we’d be better off without State Farm. He also said if the private companies wanted to gouge, the People’s Insurance Company was there to help.
afterall, if we had read previoius articles, there are still many claims that still have not been paid. if you read, even the peoples insurance company is trying to raise it’s rates. so the Gov’r did not hold to his promise either. he got the votes to put him in office, but is finding out that his promises are not holding true to protect the floridians. the next gov’r will have his hands full.
Deregulation may be okay for certain lines of insurance such as commercial inland marine, warranties, and some specialized professional liability but not property insurance. It will fail if launched since rates will get jacked up and insureds won’t be able to pay and hence companies won’t get the premium. Also there are no consumer protections in place due to abuse that tends to arise from lack of regulation. If enacted the regulation will eventually come back as history tends to repeat itself.
Veto this horrible bill.
Exhibit “A”
Another article which details the ramifications coming in the event of a major storm. All of these under capitalized carriers with their common ownership of MGA’a sucking all the money out of them will come home to roost soon.
We need some sort of federal backed reinsurance plan for the entire southeast US and include earthquakes for California. Just one thought.
Something has to change!
Mellisa, Obviously you do not believe in capitalism and probably support Obama’s plan to socialize our nation.
Competition reduces premiums and greed raises premiums, somewhere in the middle is the true value of the product. That is capitalism, That is American.
One comment was Charlie was one of the worst Republican governors…change that to “one of the worst EVER governors, of either party”. It is almost sad how politicians like Charlie get elected over and over…and usually move UP. Not sure we in FL have many good choices for Senator, but hopefully Good Time Charlie will not fill that seat!
Obviously not too many people understand insurance, or banking for that matter inlcuding Crist and Bush. Bush told The Associated Press. “People aren’t required to buy any insurance….” Apparently he never applied for a mortgage to buy a home.
Complete deregulation won’t work because the State of FL is entirely a high risk area. Insurers will increase rates if de- regulated. With the current state system of regulation the only really efficient way to handle catastrophic risks is via a national pooling arrangement ala the Flood Program or how european countries like France and Spain handle this.
A national pool is nothing more than a government takeover. Frankly there is enough reinsurance available for a thriving private market. It’s rate suppression stupid! We don’t have a capacity problem, we have a rate problem.
Any of you jockeying for government takeover must not value private markets and must enjoy the 5.5% Citizens paycheck.
Crist is absolutely clueless. He’s lost a 30 point advantage over Rubio, and he will continue losing more. People are sick of his inability to deal with the truth, and the polls are showing it. His property insurance plan is a disaster for Florida, like his senate campaign.
Charlie should have stepped up and told Floridians that “insurance premiums were going to go up, no matter what I do. I can try to force insurers to operate at a loss, but that’s going nowhere. No conspiracy theories or big, bad, evil, insurance boogeymen. We live in hurricane alley. Florida gets hurricanes. Get with a good insurer. Harden your homes. And pray that we don’t ever owe so much through Citizens and the CAT Fund assessmenst that we have to institute a state income tax. Now, let’s sign HB 447 and figure out how to save Florida jobs.”
I know. I’m dreaming…
is the government meddling in the private marketplace. Everytime the government gets involved another business dies and taxes go up. Let insurers determine the rates, actively pursue getting regional and national carriers into the Florida marketplace and watch competition do its thing. In 3 years we will have a strong, sound property market will less risk of insolvency.
Melissa, if Crist hadn’t vetoed that bill last year, I’d bet State Farm wouldn’t be dropping another 125,000 policies in Florida.
Let’s get clear about what we’re talking about here – it’s relief from PRICE CONTROLS, not a total deregulation of insurance. The price controls that have driven out all the big insurers with deep pockets to pay claims, and substituted them with new, thinly capitalized Florida domestics who are struggling to survive, even after 5 years of no hurricanes, or bleeding the surplus through the use of MGAs. It’s not working.
Has deregulation of price controls ever been tried in Florida? How do you know it won’t work? Seems like our political leaders have tried everything, yet, here are, one hurrciane away from a major meltdown for the state govt, every small insurer, and millions of Florida homeowners. Not working.
There are two real choices:
1) Nationalizing property insurance. Kind of like having the govt provide all the insurance and deciding who pays what. Yes, I can see it now…if you don’t get insurance on your house, the govt can “fine” you or send the IRS after you. All properties will be covered, whether you want insurance or not. Sound familiar?
2) Let the free market work. Prices will go up in the short term, but companies will flock to the Florida market and prices will drop with increased competition.
I’d say let’s try #2. It’s obvious that what we have now isn’t working. We need to pass HB 447.
This issue regarding Florida Property insurance is ours (Florida’s) to solve – no one else is going to be willing to step up and foot the bill for our exposure to hurricanes. So, while I agree that we should at least push for a nNtional Cat plan, I don’t expect people in other states to buy into that anytime soon. I also don’t expect them to want to pay more for their insurance just because they are insured by a national carrier that also does business in Florida at a loss.
Our state govt is struggling to balance a budget with less and less resources and more and more demands. Legislators are completely ignoring the fact that we have over $20 billion in unfunded liabilities through Citizens and the CAT Fund, and it’s growing by leaps and bounds everyday.
Big insurers have been leaving in droves since 2004, fed up with price controls and a governor who works against finding viable solutions in favor of using insurers as whipping posts.
Startup insurers have been coming in to take over using lots of leverage and little of their own capital to start operations, while they set up MGAs to bleed the companies of surplus and walk away with millions. It not really competition. Many of those companies will fold as soon as a storm hits.
What’s left???
We need more competition in Florida through less price controls. We need companies to want to do business in Florida instead of them trying to figure out how they can leave. We need an Insurance Commissioner who understands that his first priority should be making sure insurance companies will be able to pay claims, instead of one who is an extension of an ambitious politician. And we need a governor to get his head out of his rear and confess that his plan isn’t working, and it’s time for another approach.
Crist is wrong. Sign the bill Governor.
you are 100% right Arthro.
You will see but if vetoed than nothing to worry about.
Wrong, I’m a convervative republican and against Obamacare. However, some industries still require some regulation which include insurance. Anyway this has nothing to do with health insurance but property insurance. Can’t compare apples and oranges.
I agree with you PK. Not everyone understands how insurance regulation is done in regards to the actuarial principles underlying it.
must be a RINO just like our fair governor. Never met a Republican that was for government setting prices on free market.
You can still get insolvent companies whether regulated or not since companies themselves can cause it and not necessarily hurricanes.
Cotyre I believe in free markets but the reality is that some regulation is needed whether is accepted or not. You have to deal with the nature of human behavior, abuses caused from deregulation, and needed consumer protections in order to keep market healthy. Pure capitalism doesn’t work anyway.
problem is you are depending on Washington, DC or the State of Florida to protect its consumers. Who is going to protect them from the politicians and special interests? I personally trust companies more than I do politicians.
Throughout his career, McCarty has cited three main principles that have guided his vision of government’s role in society: 1) Government should serve and ultimately be accountable to the people; 2) Government should be transparent in its operations, and treat its clients fairly and equitably; and 3) Government should protect those who are unable to protect themselves.
He has failed at ALL three. (1) Only has been accountable to this Gov. (2) Doesn’t treat co’s fairly, Ie. State Farm, All other Natls’s, and all the co’s who have been threatened lately and (3) The poor voters in SF who need his help to supress rates!
Sorry, Melissa, deregulation does work.
1. All insurers first of all want to stay solvent. They must have rates high enough to allow for that. If rates are kept artificially low then the strong cos. like State Farm will drastically reduce the number of policies they will write, and
2. The weaker cos. will go out of business, throwing their liabilites onto the Guarantee Fund which gets passed back to the remaining insurers, who, by law, pass it straight back to the policyholders.
Insurance cos. are like everybody else, once they see a chance to make a profit, they begin writing more business. The easiest way to do that is with lower premiums. Eventually this goes to far because insurers never know in advance what their losses will be like, so they overshoot the mark with prices too low. So they correct, return to profitability, and the cycle begins again.
Overall, on average, you pay what the loss climate dictates for cos. to make a profit.
If they see they can’t make a profit, they take their marbles and go home.
It really is that simple, and it really does work just that way.
Well said Arthro.
Can’t compare insurance laws from different states along with risks. Hurricane don’t exist in Illinois for example who doesn’t regulate. That’s why all the big companies hang out there.
No it doesn’t.
Maybe the light bulb just went off for Melissa. The big companies hang out in Illinois because of just what you said. No regulation
The lights are on, its just that no one is home! Empty between the ears.
Jeez Louise, does Melissa ever work??