This year's massive Florida property insurance reform bill has made its way through the Senate Budget Committee, but changes to the bill irk industry representatives.
State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, was successful on two fronts—getting rid of a provision dealing with replacement-cost methodology and repealing file-and-use.
Provisions in the bill (SB 408), before Fasano's tinkering, had called for changes to the way the industry pays for damages to homes, allowing them to pay some initial costs and then pay the rest when homeowners provide a contract with a contractor for repairs or replacement. Fasano's amendment keeps the status quo where insurers have to pay all costs up front.
The modification to replacement-cost methodology was a "central component to the bill," and one that the industry "will be working overtime" to reinstate in the measure as it continues through the legislative process, says William Stander, assistant vice president and regional manager for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).
Roger Desjadon, spokesperson for the Florida Property & Casualty Association and president of Florida Peninsula Insurance Company, says under the current payment structure "homeowners are not effectuating repairs" and are pocketing the money.
Fasano also managed to work in an amendment to repeal file-and-use.
Provisions in the bill address sinkhole claims, public adjusters, insurers' surplus requirements, deadlines to file a claim after a storm, mitigation discounts and Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state's last resort insurer.
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