State Rep. Alan Hays on Wednesday called for the Legislature
to investigate property insurance companies in Florida, citing the
millions executives made in bonuses and other perks as the companies
threatened to leave Florida and begged the state for higher rates to
make them profitable.
"We certainly need to have answers as to
whether the practices were appropriate," said Hays, R-Umatilla, a
member of the House Insurance, Business & Financial Affairs Policy
Committee.
Citing a year-long investigation conducted by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune — "How insurers make millions on the side"
– Hays said he wants to hold hearings to sort out the truth much like
they do in Congress. The committee's chairman Republican Pat Patterson,
a senior account agent at Allstate, dodged discussion of the issue.
(The lawmakers, including Hays, then approved a measure to give
insurance companies the ability to offer unregulated rates.)
Hays isn't the only Florida politician wanting answers to the
questionable practices exposed in the newspaper's series. Chief
Financial Officer Alex Sink is asking Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to appear before the Cabinet on Tuesday.
But still Hays voted for a controversial deregulation bill (HB447), sponsored by Rep. Bill Proctor,
that would allow property insurance companies to offer an unregulated
policy to homeowners. The legislation caps the annual cost increases at
5 percent for the first year and 10 percent and then 15 percent in
future years.
Republicans are pushing the measure as a
"market-based" proposal that would allow homeowners to bear the true
cost of the policy and get better service in return. But critics
including Sean Shaw, the Florida Consumer Advocate, suggest it will
limit options for homeowners to this Cadillac plan for Citizens, the
state-backed insurer. "To raise the rates and never have to prove to
(the Office of Insurance of Regulation) that there rates are
justified," Shaw said.
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