The Home Insurance Guru

A tornado picked up a southbound vehicle on Florida’s Turnpike near Fort Lauderdale Wednesday morning and dropped it in the northbound lane as a line of severe storms hit the area, officials said.

They said the storms tossed cars and trucks, knocked down trees and damaged some roofs.

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 to get free quotes on Insurance for Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well. Please enjoy the full article below!

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2016/01/29/396790.htm

Water loss claims, exacerbated by assignment of benefits, are driving higher rates in South Florida and increasingly across the state, according to a just released analysis conducted by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. for state insurance regulators. The insurer says the data confirms that the state is facing a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

“The analysis further indicates that the frequency and severity of claims filed under an assignment of benefit is growing at a disturbing rate,” Citizens said in a statement.

Citizens’ actuaries further analyzed data for both litigated and non-litigated claims, with and without an assignment of benefits, or AOB, under which homeowners sign over control of their claim to water remediation companies, contractors and/or attorneys. Citizens said it reviewed the non-litigated claims, which wasn’t required by OIR’s data call, to “improve the effectiveness” of its response.

According to Citizens, the analysis found that cases in which customers assigned benefits to contractors or remediation companies were almost twice as expensive on average, and more likely to lead to litigation. The average litigated assignment of benefits claim cost for 2014-2015 was $37,677 statewide and $38,544 in the southern portion of the state – more than double that of a non-litigated claim, Citizens said. Claims where benefits weren’t assigned and there was no litigation averaged $8,507 statewide.

The insurer said the data shows that AOB and litigation work both separately and together to drive average claims costs more than four times higher than that of a simple non-assigned, non-litigated claim.

“Consumers are losing control of their claims by transferring their authority to contractors and attorneys under the current assignment of benefit system,” said Chris Gardner, chairman of Citizens Board of Governors. “This analysis shows clearly that AOB is raising water claims losses. Those higher costs are paid by all policyholders. We have a dual obligation of protecting our policyholders while keeping premiums as affordable as possible.”

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial & life & Financial products as well. Please enjoy the full article below.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2016/01/25/396171.htm

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation announced Jan. 20 that it has reduced its policy count to under 500,000.

The company said in a statement that its policy count on Jan. 19 was 484,788, the lowest level recorded since Citizens was created in 2002. Total exposure has shrunk to $143.53 billion. The Florida Legislature created Citizens, a not-for-profit alternative insurer, to provide insurance to property owners who cannot find coverage in the private insurance market.

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial & Life & financial products as well. Please enjoy the rest of the article below.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2016/01/21/395850.htm

Please be sure to call L & S Insurance at -1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Business & Commercial & Life & Financial products as well. The new Maps are still Preliminary and could be updated again. The new changes will start in September if all goes as planned  and about 76,000 homes will need to start to have a new Flood Policy where one was not needed before. Most people do not understand the risk of Flood, but ask people in N.J. from Hurricane Sandy and they will tell you otherwise. Please be prepared and check your information now. You can call Lee at L & S at x-209 for a class at your office soon to review the maps with your agents.

http://maps.co.palm-beach.fl.us/gis/floodzones.aspx?

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well.

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well.

News of who will replace Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has yet to be announced, but whoever takes over will have his or her work cut out for them when McCarty leaves office after 12 years on May 2.

“These are some pretty huge shoes to fill and it’s going to be tough,” said Jay Neal, president and CEO of the Florida Association for Insurance Reform (FAIR). “We need someone who is experienced in that role or we will see problems.”

No candidates have been confirmed as potential replacements, as of yet, but a few names have been floated so far. Two Florida movers rumored to be in the running include Florida State Rep. Bill Hager, a former Iowa Insurance Commissioner, former president and CEO of the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) and current vice chair of the state Insurance and Banking subcommittee; and Tom Grady, former interim president of Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

Hager has been vocal for flood insurance reform in the state, an issue that has also been a major focus for McCarty over the last six months. Hager told Insurance Journal last fall that lawmakers were “turning up the heat” on the National Flood Insurance Program’s ratemaking practices.

Grady is currently awaiting confirmation by the State Senate to the Florida Board of Education after he was appointed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott in Oct. He was accused of allowing “excessive” travel expenses during his short-lived position with Citizens.

There is also the possibility that a candidate Scott considered last year, Louisiana Deputy Commissioner of Consumer Advocacy Ron Henderson, could be in the running again.

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for free quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well. Please enjoy the full article below;

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2016/01/08/394524.htm

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin M. McCarty announced today that he is resigning effective May 2, 2016 after 12 years in the post to pursue other job opportunities, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR).

McCarty has served as the only appointed insurance commissioner for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation since the office was created in 2003.

McCarty’s tenure has been a tumultuous yet productive one. Originally appointed by former Gov. Jeb Bush, McCarty presided over the state’s sometimes volatile homeowners and auto insurance markets, a number of devastating hurricanes, and several financial and insurance-related crises.

Last year, he survived an ouster bid by current Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Gov. Rick Scott’s Communications Direct, Jackie Schutz, issued the following statement to Insurance Journal on the news:

“We appreciate his service to the state and we wish him the best of luck in his next endeavor.”

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Flood, Auto, Business & Commercial & Life & Financial products as well. Please enjoy the full article below.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2016/01/05/393831.htm

“We think the time is right for you all to explore the [Florida] flood insurance market.”

That was the message Florida Senator Jeff Brandes gave insurance industry attendees at the first ever Florida Flood Insurance Conference on Dec. 9 in St. Petersburg.

Brandes added that lawmakers are doing what they can to make the Florida flood market attractive and accommodating to private insurers.

“Our goal is to have 10 private insurers or more in Florida selling flood insurance in the next 24 months, and with your help we think we are going to get there,” Brandes said.

The Florida flood insurance market has become an expensive problem for homeowners, and it’s getting more expensive every year, according to lawmakers including Brandes and Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.

Brandes, a Republican, represents District 22 of Florida that includes Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. He has been leading the charge among Florida lawmakers to change Florida’s approach to flood insurance.

Please call L & S Insurance  at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Flood, Auto, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well. Please enjoy the full article below;

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/12/30/393327.htm