Property and Casualty Insurance Reform Committee Meeting 8/08/06

The Property and Casualty Insurance Reform Committee held its first scheduled meeting today in Tallahassee, Florida. Chaired by Lt. Governor Toni Jennings, the Committee is charged with making recommendations to the Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives regarding insurance issues in Florida. The Committee is comprised of various business, civic and legislative leaders, and the Governor has also appointed a “technical advisory committee” of insurance executives to provide the Committee members with technical information on insurance issues.

At today’s meeting , the Committee heard testimony intended to give the Committee members a general overview of insurance business in Florida and recent environmental and legislative developments. Included was testimony of Ben Nelson, the State Meteorologist, who reviewed previous hurricane activity and advised the Committee that this current active hurricane cycle is not unusual. Also, Professor Patrick Maroney of the Florida State University College of Business gave a brief overview of general characteristics of insurance companies, as well as general information on techniques insurance companies use to evaluate and price risk. Jack Nicholson, a Senior Officer of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF), also testified before the Committee, explaining how the FHCF operated and the current financial status of the FHCF.

The Legislative leaders on the Committee made a brief presentation of recently legislation passed in Florida regarding property insurance. Senator J.D. Alexander, Representative Don Brown and Representative Dennis Ross reviewed the various aspects of Senate Bill 1980, including the mitigation and incentive programs created in the bill. Notably, the Legislators emphasized that mitigation is an important aspect of controlling the costs of hurricanes, and issues such as limiting the coverage Citizens Property Insurance Corporation may offer and the increase in coastal development should be revisited by the Committee.

Due to time constraints, several presentations were cut short, including a presentation from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and a presentation by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty regarding reactivating the Commercial Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association. Lt. Governor Jennings promised that these topics would be heard by the Committee at later meetings.

Because the first meeting was primarily organizational, no public testimony was heard. Lt. Governor Jennings indicated that future meetings will offer opportunities for residents across Florida to provide input and comments to the Committee. You can access a list of the Committee members as well as a short biography on each member at the website for the Committee: http://www.flgov.com/prop_ins_committee. A copy of the agenda for today’s meeting is attached.

Please feel free to contact this office with questions or concerns.

Regards,

Rich Fidei