June. While for many it evokes images of summer vacations,weddings, and days at the shore, here in Florida we think ofhurricanes. So it is appropriate that our June issue includesseveral articles on the 2010 season and residential and commercialproperty insurance. Our cover story, co-authored by Richard J.Fidei, Esq., and Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq., of Colodny, Fass,Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A., offers an extensiveoverview of our current property insurance market, along with sometroubling statistics. The authors note that Florida is the mostexposed state for hurricane loss, with a total insured value ofalmost $2.5 trillion. With that much exposure, can the few hardyinsurers who remain really offer enough protection tohomeowners?

Speaking of capacity, an article by Ravi Singhvi, vice presidentof catastrophe risk modeling at NAPCO, explains how thedata-gathering process, when properly utilized, can solve theriddle of the correct amount of coverage for property owners.

For those of you with anxious homeowners, Lynne McChristian,Florida representative for the Insurance Information Institute,discusses actual cash value, replacement cost value, and theproposed revised claims-paying procedures in SB 2044.

Our two state-created “safety nets,” Citizens Property InsuranceCorp. and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, also earned spaceinside, and this time, the news is generally positive.

In his report on the condition of the Cat Fund, reporter GaryFineout quotes fund financial advisor John Forney optimisticallydeclaring, “The conclusion is the Cat Fund is in great shape goinginto the 2010 hurricane season.” I hope Forney is able to expresssimilar sentiments at the close of the season.

Fidei and Karlinksy expand their cover story with a sidebarabout how recent changes to Citizens' takeout mandates by FloridaInsurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty may help move policies out ofthe state insurer.

McCarty has taken a significant amount of heat lately from manysides. Despite his recent public support of SB 2044 and what isperceived as a more conciliatory attitude toward the industry, somethink it is too little too late. Among those not on Team McCarty isMark O'Connell, CEO of PIA-Florida. In a Guest Commentary, theassociation head says it is time for McCarty to leave, declaringthat he has abdicated his role as regulator. O'Connell also weighsin on the Cabinet, legislators, the Cat Fund, and Citizens.

I would be remiss if I did not offer some commentary on the oilspill that is destroying the waterways in and around Louisiana andthreatening our beaches. The spectacle of “pass the blame” by BP,Transocean, and Halliburton at the congressional hearings wasawful; worse yet was the revelation of secret videos showing thatthe accident is spewing oil at a faster rate than the companiesadmitted. Worst of all is the fact that a month into the disasterthey still have not fixed it.

However, I see no need for a special session to craft aconstitutional amendment banning oil drilling in Florida waters. Itmay be good political theater for candidate Charlie Crist to calleveryone back to Tallahassee, but in reality, oil rigs are notsuddenly going to emerge out of the Gulf like Botticelli's “Venus.”Instead of treating a proposed constitutional amendment like alegislative form of speed dating, lawmakers should use theseintervening months to fully assess the damage from the spill and tosolicit legal advice and public opinion in preparation forconducting measured discussions in 2011.