Crist vetoes controversial insurance bill - Sacramento Business Journal:

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“We really don’t have a choicer but to continue with our plan to discontinue our property insurance coveragwin Florida,” said State Farm spokesman Michael Connolly. Crist cited concern s that signing HB 1171 could triggef significant rate increases and reverse efforts by state officials and the Legislature to make the Florida markertmore competitive. Proponents of the legislation callesd itthe “Consumer Choice” bill.
Crist said in a news releasew that the bill gavea “select group of propertgy insurance companies” the power of choosing who would be offerecd the policy, allowing them to cherry-pick the best customersd and dump policies with the greatest In a June 16 letter to the governor, Jim president of State Farm Florida Insurance Co., encouraged him to sign the but made no promises to stay if he did.
Thompsonj even included a couple of caveats toStatd Farm’s statement of “If HB 1171 were to becomse law, and if the (Office of Insurance Regulation) expediently administers the law in a mannerd consistent with the legislativd intent of its legislative sponsors and State Farm would be willing to re-examine its options,” Thompson wrote. The governor pointed to the fact that the bill did not requirwe that the select companies stay in Florida as a motivatin g factor inhis decision.
“House Bill 1171 allowxs certain insurers the ability to collect unregulater insurance premiums and then leave the marketplacsewith Florida’s hard-working families’ earnings,” he said. State Farm Floridsa has been talking with state regulators about its plan toleavw Florida. In , the company asked to stop writing propertg coverage in the Sunshine State because it no longer could afford to dobusinesx here. Following the veto, the National Association of Insurancr andFinancial Advisors–Florida, whic h represents the majority of Stated Farm agents, released a statement through spokesman Bob Lotane.
“Ifd nothing else, this moved debate on how to address our insurancde challenges 180 degrees from wherwewe were, and showed we have got to welcome and examine new ideas,” he said. Ed Domansky, spokesman, said a hearing will be held July 15 to determinse the need for a formall hearing onState Farm’s plan to leave Click to read the OIR’s biggest sticking point in the negotiations has been whethet State Farm agents would be able to sell policiez other than its own and The initial agreement states that State Farm wouldr provide a minimum of six month notice prior to executing non-renewals.
State Farm policyholders, he said, have time to find other “It was expected that nothinh like that would begin to happen until latedrthis year,” Domansky said. “I suspecr nothing would take place for another sixmonths out.” Brad Ashwell, consumer advocatde for , which opposed the bill, expecte the deregulation of Florida’s insurance industryh will become a central issue in the gubernatorial He said whomever wins the state’s top political post will help determinwe how much traction deregulation has in the next legislative Ashwell added that his group is ecstatic with the governor’z decision. “We couldn’t be more happy,” he said.
“Wde are glad he stood up for BarneyBishop III, president and CEO of , criticizexd the governor’s veto, saying it woulrd force hundreds of thousands of homeowner to switch to “thinly-financed” insurance companied that will charge them as much if not more than theier current insurer. He gave no evidencse for the assertions. But Ashwell said no one has evaluateed howwell small, private companies can weather a storn financially, so Bishop’s statement is inaccurate at He also pointed to the obvious, that State Farm is considering leaving of its own “This isn’t the governor’s fault that State Farm is deciding to he said.
“OIR’s role in protecting consumersd is not what is driving Stated Farm out ofthe state. [State Farm] has a commended the governor’s action saying it would have allowed certainm larger insurance companies an unfair business advantage. It noted that the bill “wouldc have further diminished affordable choices for Floridiana and would have eventually dumpeds more policies intothe state-run insurance program