Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink appointed attorney Sean M. Shaw as Florida's Insurance Consumer Advocate in November. The insurance consumer advocate represents the public in a wide range of public insurance forums, including health-care panels, public hearings, rate filings, NAIC working groups, and statutorily appointed boards and task forces.

Prior to his appointment, Shaw was an associate with the Tallahassee-based law firm Messer, Caparello & Self PA, where he practiced civil, criminal and administrative litigation with an emphasis on employment law. He is admitted to practice before all Florida state courts, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and Southern districts of Florida as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He has held various committee positions that focus on the young lawyer, minority and student populations within the Tallahassee, Florida, and American Bar associations.

He recently spoke with Florida Underwriter about his new position.

Q. Soon after your appointment, newspaper articles and letters-to-the-editor began appearing expressing the public's discontent with the "opt out" process of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Some policyholders and media pundits thought the choice should be to "opt in," rather than "opt out." What is your position on this?

A. As Florida continues to struggle toward creating a property insurance market in a state at risk of catastrophic storms, the Legislature has continued to modify the role of Citizens to assure that our homeowners have access to adequate property insurance. In this debate, I do believe in policyholder choice – that is, to be fully informed that a new private sector policy is available to them and to allow the policyholder to make this choice. The "stay-in/opt-out" provision was designed to encourage a smooth transition from Citizens to a private sector company. In light of the concerns now being raised by affected Citizens' policyholders, our office is examining the issue to determine if policyholders are being best served by the "opt-out" default setting. I need to point out that all our state leaders, including the insurance consumer advocate, are committed to providing quality service to policyholders and to encouraging a stable marketplace populated by private sector companies that are adequately capitalized.

Q. Part of the stated vision for the insurance advocate's office includes improving market/business practices and identifying market trends that affect Floridians. Do you perceive your role as reactive or proactive? Can your "stepping in" early be a bellwether for companies to adjust their procedures?

A. Excellent question, and directly on target. This office must be proactive in identifying bad trends before they become large problems for the consumer. Obviously, we must also react to problems in the various insurance markets, but we must take the lead in using the extensive data available to our office in order to step in when necessary.

Q. You take part in many committees, task forces, and the like. Where can you best serve the public interest?

A. That's a tough question. I believe that service on all these committees and task forces assists this office in meeting its mission. Whether it is service on the Board of the Florida Worker's Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association or service on the Task Force to Safeguard our Seniors, this service allows the insurance consumer advocate to be a part of the decision-making process and analysis on various issues. In addition, our mere presence on these various boards and task forces ensures that the voices of Florida's insurance consumers are heard.

Q. Do you intercede for individuals or do you operate more with a "big-picture" focus?

A. Both. Although the Division of Consumer Services is the entity responsible for most of the individual consumer requests for assistance, we do have some involvement when a consumer request is complex, or the request might indicate a business practice or marketplace trend that suggests a "big-picture" issue. However, we would like to move this office more toward big-picture oversight and big-picture intervention.

Q. What are some of the concerns passed on from your predecessors?

A. Perhaps the biggest concern is the fact that Florida citizens are in danger of being assessed by multiple entities in the event of a hurricane. We must find a way to lower the people's current level of exposure so that the private market assumes the risk associated with hurricanes, rather than placing that risk on the backs of Florida taxpayers.

Q. Health care is a huge issue in Florida. Do you see the need for an additional insurance advocate to tackle the consumer issues of health care?

A. I am certain that our office can address these issues. Our staff has, collectively, a very solid knowledge base in health insurance. In my opinion, from the consumer's point of view, the most significant challenge in the market is to reduce the number of persons in our state who are uninsured, underinsured, and who do not have access to affordable, quality health-care services.

Q. In light of the recent workers' compensation reforms, access to medical care appears to be more difficult for injured workers. There also is the concern that some employers don't carry sufficient employee coverage. What is your opportunity in this area?

A. We are aware of the emerging issues of access to health-care providers — provider choice and timeliness of access — that workers' advocates have brought to our office and to other players in the workers' compensation insurance system. We continue to work with the Department of Financial Services Division of Workers' Compensation to help identify just where the law intersects the administration of the workers' compensation system, and how needed changes should be addressed. On the issue of sufficient coverage, I see the responsibility to carry coverage as the responsibility of the employer. I am pleased that the Division of Workers' Compensation has an aggressive program to assure employer compliance.

Q. When will you be producing your first Report Card for Residential Property Insurers as mandated by the Legislature?

A. This is a tough question. Implementation of the requirement, which was passed in a massive property insurance bill, would be a duplication now of performance standards that were required of insurers in that same bill. We've requested the Legislature to re-examine the cost benefits of an extensive reporting requirement, since the office was not fully funded to cover the technology costs of implementation.

Q. Another aspect of your duties relates to the Legislature. Does that make you a lobbyist with the state's largest constituency — the citizens of Florida?

A. I certainly would like to think so. You could even say that my biggest and only clients are Florida's citizens.

Q. Do you interact with the state's insurance agent associations and their various task forces?

A. This office has regular communication with all the stakeholders from the industry, agent, and consumer sides. Open communication is key to our mission of maintaining a balance between a viable, competitive insurance market and consumers' needs for accessible, affordable insurance products

Q. What is the preferred method for the public to contact your office?

A. Consumers should always work first with their insurance companies. Generally, consumers will find that customer representatives are helpful and may be able to resolve a problem without the need to go to the state. For assistance requests, we do recommend a consumer start by contacting the Division of Consumer Services at www.myfloridacfo.com or 877-693-5236. If a Florida citizen has a "big issue" — a business practice of the insurance industry or a belief that the market is not working correctly or there is need for a consumer voice on a legislative proposal — those are the kinds of activities where my office seeks to get more involved. People can go to our Web site at www.fldfs.com/ica, or send a letter to me: Sean Shaw, Insurance Consumer Advocate, The Capitol, Room # LL 26, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0308 or call 850-413-5923.

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