Office of Insurance Regulation Town Hall Meeting re Commercial Property Insurance JUA 8/14/06

Jan 14, 2007

On Friday, August 11, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation held a town hall meeting in Bradenton to hear concerns regarding the commercial property insurance market in Florida. The meeting which had to be relocated to the Anna Maria Elementary school auditorium to accommodate the crowd lasted about two hours and was attended mostly by the local business community. Commissioner Kevin McCarty heard testimony from condo owners, multi unit condo owners, retail businessmen and local government officials. Those who testified mostly stated that commercial coverage was either unaffordable or that they could not obtain coverage at any price. Commissioner McCarty briefly discussed the proposed emergency rule activating the Commercial Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association and directed people to contact the Florida Market Assistance Plan (FMAP) hotline to for assistance.

Tomorrow the Florida Cabinet is expected to approve Emergency Rule 69P-2.001 establishing a Commercial Property Joint Underwriting Plan. Attached please find the Cabinet agenda for tomorrows meeting, the draft rule and a document which discusses hypothetical situations in regard to the Joint Underwriting Plan.

We will attend the Cabinet meeting and report the discussions and Cabinet actions. Please feel free to contact this office with any questions or concerns.

Regards,

Rhett E. O’Doski