Ronald R. Asise
Home insurance is not a warranty policy. It is intended to get you back on track after sudden or accidental damage to your home. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous contractors promise Florida homeowners a “free” roof for “damage,” which is just wear and tear.
Not to be outdone, some lawyers file lawsuits for this “damage.” Individually, each of these actions is terrible. Together they created a toxic environment that pushed Florida’s property and casualty insurance market to the brink of collapse and sent premiums skyrocketing. In the past two years he has had nine Florida insurance companies insolvent. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average premium for a homeowner in Florida is $4,231, the highest in the nation. (Approx. 2.5 times the national average)
As bleak as it sounds, this is a man-made crisis and can be fixed. We need legislative changes to end this cottage industry. The following changes are required to achieve a complete reform that will make the Florida property and casualty insurance market healthy and viable again.
Eliminates One-Way Lawyer Fees Act: If a customer sues an insurance company and is paid $1 more than the last pretrial offer, the homeowner will be reimbursed for all attorney fees at the insurance company’s expense. . If the customer does not prevail, neither the customer nor their attorneys are required to reimburse the insurance company for attorney’s fees. Since the game has virtually no skins, lawyers are free to sue. This may explain why Florida accounts for her 9% of domestic property insurance claims, but accounts for a staggering 79% of domestic property insurance claim lawsuits.
Addressing the effects caused by the 2016 Sebo ruling: Florida Supreme Court ruled that if two or more perils converge to cause loss and at least one peril is not covered by an insurance policy, an insurer may Decided that all hazards should be covered. damage. Unscrupulous contractors will take advantage of this ruling and combine some wind-damaged shingles with the wear and tear on an old roof to give the customer a “free” replacement of the entire roof.
Allow insurance companies to provide roof value schedules on home insurance policies: Just like a car depreciates through wear and tear, so does the roof of your home. Auto insurance companies can take depreciation into account when settling car claims. Failure to allow home insurance companies to take the age of a home’s roof into account when settling claims invites opportunities for frivolous or fraudulent roof claims.
Property insurance is designed and priced to repair damage or loss caused by covered hazards such as fire, theft, hurricanes and other sudden or accidental accidents. Not the price you pay for wear and tear. In fact, wear and tear is expressly excluded from home insurance policies. Insurance covered in Florida when we had to replace a roof that had worn out due to age and exposure to the elements. All homeowners pay to help with their neighbor’s new roof costs.
The Florida Legislature will convene its second special legislative session this December to address property and casualty insurance issues in the state. Let’s hope they address all the issues that have led to this crisis.
Ron Assise has nearly 40 years of experience in property and casualty insurance in various states across the United States. He has been an instructor at the Erie Insurance Agent College and chaired the national program at his three consecutive personal line meetings for the Assurex Global organization. Ron was appointed Director of Education for the Individual Customer Insurance Council in March 2014. Ron is also a faculty member of the National Alliance for Insurance Education and a director of the Individual Customer Insurance Council (CIPC). He is a ‘Certified Insurance Counselor’ (CIC) and a ‘Certified Personal Risk Manager’ (CPRM) and is a frequent guest on his news at his WFLA in Tampa as his expert. I’m from Marquette Park in southwest Chicago. Ron and his wife Cheryl currently live in Fort He Myers and spend their summers in the Midwest.
