Left out of the discussion is the hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud that will potentially be cut when No Fault is dropped. Lawyers and chiropractors feast on the easy money in No Fault where almost nobody is watching. Now under a BI system, it is much much harder to get away with fraud. Those savings are not reflected in the cost analysis.
I’m in PA – good assessment Mark. I wonder if any of these politicians ever get a round table of agents and not the corporate suits, pencil nerds and insurance folk who never had to sell a thing in their lives to discuss how to deal with the situation in FL. Everybody knows more than the agents…Have a group of agents who are on the front lines everyday and meet with the nerds and hammer out what needs to be done. Bring in the claim adjusters who are also on the front lines who can give real data on what’s going on. Then the suits may get a better understanding when they hear the truth and not smoke from their underlings.
Mark,
The fraud won’t go away. It will simply move to MEDPAY. No EUOs. No fee schedule. No pre-suit demands. Suits will actually go up as MRIs will be billed at 3k just like before the fee schedule was implemented for PIP. Carriers will have to choose whether or not to reduce the MRI bills to usual, customary and reasonable. If they do, they will get sued by the MRI provider. If they don’t benefits will exhaust and they will get sued by the chiros for improper exhaustion. This bill fixes nothing. It makes things worse. Don’t forget the FL is the worst state in the country for bad faith. There is no fix for that in the bill.
When will law makers stop stroking off the insurance companies , allowing them to commit fraud and be greedy as all get out. Every single time a contractor finds a leg up to help a homeowner whos getting shafted by a shady insurer , insurance company pays some shady law maker to make it illegal. One day the general public will get fed up with all the shady politicians only catering to things that pay them for a leg up.
Well,m it does not help when the Senator who is authoring the bill is an “Insurance Broker” himself!! That what burns my butt. They continue to get over on the homeowner, and when the homeowner actually gets smart and gets a little back, they up the ante once more. Heaven forbid we should all stop their Gravy Train.. They talk about losing 1.5 Billion, but they don’t tell you how much they MADE do they?
World is just getting crazier by the day..
This is the point – they are not making anything. Their underwriting results (premium from policeis minus losses) leads to a loss 4 years in a row. Their suprluses (the capital needed for those companies to exist and still offer potection for policiholders and be rated by rating agenices, which means that you as a plicyholder know that you will be paid in case you have a claim) – these surpluses are decreasing for years in a row. The companies lost 1.5B Bn, but only a small portion of that went to policyholders who actually needed the money – it mostly went to the lawyers of these roofers. This is why you need a reform, otherwise your home insurance is going to get even more expensive. You are not paying the insurance company at the moment – you are paying the lawyers. Let aside that without reforms, FL insurance companies will have even more expensive reinsurance that they need to pay for (the protection they buy in order to pay all those hurricane claims) and this ultimately goes to unstable company which you as a policyholder do not want to have. The picture is much bigger…
Here’s the deal Mr. McCoy and it’s real simple: Companies are paying for, and replacing, roofs that have reached the end of their useful life when homeowners should have taken action to replace these roofs. Roofs are like tires on an automobile – at some point that become worn out, ineffective, and need to be replaced. The typical homeowner (and roofer) has expected the insurance company to make these replacements far too long. Too bad this legislation didn’t go further.
SWFL is spot on as usual. I’d like to add that the $1.5 billion in losses is inclusive of revenue. That’s the amount of money lost, not the amount of money paid out.
You mean every time a contractor finds a leg up to exploit the system and cause insurance companies to pay for things that the policy does not cover, and should be at the homeowners’ expense? Owning a home comes with responsibilities. Insurance is not supposed to be used as a home maintenance contract. The truly poor performing insurance companies will still be held accountable. But, contractors aren’t exactly known to be an honest group. They’re trying to sell a product – just because a roofer says there is wind damage does not mean it’s true.
The insurer doesn’t say, in all cases they hire an outside adjuster to look at the roof. Your 19 year old roof is at the end of its life in Florida, it should be replaced by you, not your insurer.
Uh-oh, so does this mean that roofing companies won’t be able to canvass neighborhoods offering people $500 Amex gift cards for a “free” “no obligation” roof inspection anymore? What a shame! (sarcasm) x0x
And once again this will not do anything to reduce insurance cost for consumers and it will not bring back any appetite for carriers. The truth is simple, The attorneys won again.
Both of these bills open the door for more lawsuits meaning more billable hours. Now we have a minimum $25k pot of gold to go after in auto suits and the ability to hit that limit every time just for pain and suffering. Hold on tight folks this rodeo is just beginning.
Left out of the discussion is the hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud that will potentially be cut when No Fault is dropped. Lawyers and chiropractors feast on the easy money in No Fault where almost nobody is watching. Now under a BI system, it is much much harder to get away with fraud. Those savings are not reflected in the cost analysis.
I’m in PA – good assessment Mark. I wonder if any of these politicians ever get a round table of agents and not the corporate suits, pencil nerds and insurance folk who never had to sell a thing in their lives to discuss how to deal with the situation in FL. Everybody knows more than the agents…Have a group of agents who are on the front lines everyday and meet with the nerds and hammer out what needs to be done. Bring in the claim adjusters who are also on the front lines who can give real data on what’s going on. Then the suits may get a better understanding when they hear the truth and not smoke from their underlings.
Mark,
The fraud won’t go away. It will simply move to MEDPAY. No EUOs. No fee schedule. No pre-suit demands. Suits will actually go up as MRIs will be billed at 3k just like before the fee schedule was implemented for PIP. Carriers will have to choose whether or not to reduce the MRI bills to usual, customary and reasonable. If they do, they will get sued by the MRI provider. If they don’t benefits will exhaust and they will get sued by the chiros for improper exhaustion. This bill fixes nothing. It makes things worse. Don’t forget the FL is the worst state in the country for bad faith. There is no fix for that in the bill.
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This is the point – they are not making anything. Their underwriting results (premium from policeis minus losses) leads to a loss 4 years in a row. Their suprluses (the capital needed for those companies to exist and still offer potection for policiholders and be rated by rating agenices, which means that you as a plicyholder know that you will be paid in case you have a claim) – these surpluses are decreasing for years in a row. The companies lost 1.5B Bn, but only a small portion of that went to policyholders who actually needed the money – it mostly went to the lawyers of these roofers. This is why you need a reform, otherwise your home insurance is going to get even more expensive. You are not paying the insurance company at the moment – you are paying the lawyers. Let aside that without reforms, FL insurance companies will have even more expensive reinsurance that they need to pay for (the protection they buy in order to pay all those hurricane claims) and this ultimately goes to unstable company which you as a policyholder do not want to have. The picture is much bigger…
Here’s the deal Mr. McCoy and it’s real simple: Companies are paying for, and replacing, roofs that have reached the end of their useful life when homeowners should have taken action to replace these roofs. Roofs are like tires on an automobile – at some point that become worn out, ineffective, and need to be replaced. The typical homeowner (and roofer) has expected the insurance company to make these replacements far too long. Too bad this legislation didn’t go further.
SWFL is spot on as usual. I’d like to add that the $1.5 billion in losses is inclusive of revenue. That’s the amount of money lost, not the amount of money paid out.
You mean every time a contractor finds a leg up to exploit the system and cause insurance companies to pay for things that the policy does not cover, and should be at the homeowners’ expense? Owning a home comes with responsibilities. Insurance is not supposed to be used as a home maintenance contract. The truly poor performing insurance companies will still be held accountable. But, contractors aren’t exactly known to be an honest group. They’re trying to sell a product – just because a roofer says there is wind damage does not mean it’s true.
I would say also that just because the carrier says there is no wind damage and that your 19 year old shingle will match, does not mean its true. :)
The insurer doesn’t say, in all cases they hire an outside adjuster to look at the roof. Your 19 year old roof is at the end of its life in Florida, it should be replaced by you, not your insurer.
Uh-oh, so does this mean that roofing companies won’t be able to canvass neighborhoods offering people $500 Amex gift cards for a “free” “no obligation” roof inspection anymore? What a shame! (sarcasm) x0x
Too litte………….Too late……………Too bad………..
And once again this will not do anything to reduce insurance cost for consumers and it will not bring back any appetite for carriers. The truth is simple, The attorneys won again.
Both of these bills open the door for more lawsuits meaning more billable hours. Now we have a minimum $25k pot of gold to go after in auto suits and the ability to hit that limit every time just for pain and suffering. Hold on tight folks this rodeo is just beginning.
My home owners insurance for 2020 was $1326.00, this year $3286.00. This doesn’t seem to help on the cost.