Early this month, two Florida legislators introduced a bill similar to one vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott this year that would give policyholders more options as they are moved out of Citizens Property Insurance, reports WWSB.
Representatives Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, and Dwight Dudley, D-St. Petersburg, filed HB289, Operations of the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. A description on the Florida House of Representatives website says of the bill:
Specifies that consumer representative appointed by Governor to corporation's board of governors is not prohibited from practicing in certain professions; authorizes use of certain policyholder information by private insurers in analyzing risks; prohibits use of information to directly solicit policyholders; requires policyholder, after date certain, to receive certain information related to demonstrations of interest by insurers; allows policyholder to elect to limit frequency of solicitations for take-out offers; provides circumstances under which policyholder whose policy was taken out to be considered renewal policyholder.
According to WWSB, the measure would allow policyholders to return to Citizens after being insured by private carriers and would let consumers retain eligibility for Citizens coverage through the company's clearinghouse if private insurers increase initial premiums by more than 10% within 36 months after policyholders are moved out of Citizens.
WWSB also notes the new proposal is similar to one vetoed by Gov. Scott this past spring. At the time, Scott commented that the bill "undermines progress" in shifting policies into the private insurance market and "perpetuates reliance on Citizens," says WWSB.
Citizens has greatly reduced its number of policies from a record high of 1.5 million in 2012 to approximately 586,000 today.
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