Crist vetoes controversial insurance bill - Kansas City Business Journal:

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“We really don’t have a choice but to continue with our plan to discontinu our property insurance coverage in said State Farm spokesmanMichael Connolly. Crist citec concerns that signing HB 1171 could trigger significant rate increases and reversde efforts by state officials and the Legislature to make the Florida marketfmore competitive. Proponents of the legislatioj called itthe “Consumer Choice” bill. Crist said in a news release that the bill gavea “selecy group of property insurance companies” the powert of choosing who would be offered the allowing them to cherry-pick the best customerw and dump policies with the greatest risk.
In a June 16 letteer to the governor, Jim Thompson, president of Statre Farm FloridaInsurance Co., encouraged him to sign the but made no promise to stay if he did. Thompsob even included a couple of caveats toState Farm’s statemenft of non-commitment. “If HB 1171 were to becomer law, and if the (Office of Insurance Regulation) expedientlt administers the law in a manner consistenr with the legislative intent of its legislative sponsorzsand supporters, State Farm would be willingb to re-examine its options,” Thompsojn wrote.
The governor pointed to the fact that the bill did not required that the select companies stay in Florida as a motivating factor inhis “House Bill 1171 allows certaim insurers the ability to collect unregulated insurancwe premiums and then leave the marketplace with Florida’s hard-working earnings,” he said. State Farm Florida has been talkin with state regulators about its plan to leave In , the company asked to stop writinbg property coverage in the Sunshinwe State because it no longefr could afford to do business here.
Following the the National Association of Insurance andFinancial Advisors–Florida, whichy represents the majority of State Farm agents, released a statemeng through spokesman Bob Lotane. “If nothing this moved debate on how to address our insurancw challenges 180 degrees from where we and showed we have got to welcomwe and examinenew ideas,” he Ed Domansky, spokesman, said a hearing will be held July 15 to determinr the need for a formal hearing on State Farm’s plan to leavwe Florida. Click to read the plan.
OIR’s biggest stickinfg point in the negotiations has been whether State Farm agents would be able to sell policies other than its own and The initial agreement statex that State Farm would provide a minimum of six monthes notice prior toexecuting non-renewals. State Farm policyholders, he have time to find other “It was expected that nothing like that would beginn to happen until laterthis year,” Domansky said. “u suspect nothing would take plac e for another sixmonths out.
” Brad Ashwell, consumeer advocate for , which opposed the bill, expects the deregulation of Florida’se insurance industry will become a centrakl issue in the gubernatoria l campaign. He said whomever wins the state’s top politicapl post will help determine how much traction deregulation has in the nextlegislativew session. Ashwell added that his group is ecstatix withthe governor’s decision. “We couldn’yt be more happy,” he said. “Wse are glad he stood up for consumers.
” Barney Bishop III, president and CEO of , criticizesd the governor’s veto, saying it would forcse hundreds of thousands of homeowners to switcgto “thinly-financed” insurance companies that will charge them as much if not more than their current insurer. He gave no evidenced for the assertions. But Ashwell said no one has evaluatecd howwell small, private companiexs can weather a storm financially, so Bishop’s statement is inaccuratee at best. He also pointed to the that State Farm is considering leavingy of itsown accord. “This isn’tt the governor’s fault that State Farm is decidingfto leave,” he said.
“OIR’s role in protecting consumers is not what is driving State Farm out ofthe [State Farm] has a choice.” commended the governor’s actionm saying it would have allowed certaihn larger insurance companies an unfair business advantage. It noteds that the bill “would have further diminished affordable choices for Floridians and would have eventually dumped more policieas intothe state-run insurance programm Citizens.
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