LMA NEWSLETTER March 4, 2019

Springing into Spring and the Legislative Session

Since 2019 is an odd-numbered year, Florida’s legislative session convenes this month vs in even-numbered years when it convenes in January.  You will be able to watch the happenings by selecting “Live Stream” at www.TheFloridaChannel.org and reviewing the legislative committee work and when the House and Senate meet on their respective floors.

Tallahassee is a …

Hurricane Michael Relief Wait, Cost Grows

Meanwhile, Hurricane Irma loss creep rising

The long, slow recovery continues in Florida’s Panhandle from Hurricane Michael.  Although some additional funding has become available, the wait for substantial relief continues, while the cost estimates keep rising.  It’s been nearly five months since the Category 4 storm struck, killing 43 and etching a sixty-mile wide path …

Florida Legislature Convenes 2019 Session

What can we expect?

The Florida Legislature kicks-off its 2019 session tomorrow with a State-of-the-State address by Governor DeSantis who will outline his priorities in a proposed $91.3 billion state budget.  The big insurance issue: the growing cost of property insurance claims litigation.  But there are also bills that would change Florida’s no-fault auto insurance …

Bill Watch

Legislative committee meetings of Feb. 18-22 into start of session

The Florida House and Senate held their last of six “committee weeks” from February 18-22 to hear proposed legislation making its way through the process.  With the formal 2019 legislative session beginning tomorrow, the full House and Senate will begin meeting in their respective chambers …

More than 1 in 10 Florida Homeowners Bare

High uninsurance rate focused on Miami

Miami-Dade County, one of the most vulnerable places for Atlantic hurricanes, has twice the national average of uninsured homeowners, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Of owner-occupied homes in Miami, 14.4% don’t have property insurance, double the national average of 6.8%.  The uninsured rate for Florida at 12.8% is …

Defining Decay

An example of policy ambiguity

For those of you who are wordsmiths and enjoy writing policy language for insurance policy forms, you will be nodding your heads north and south when you read the latest case about ambiguous policy language.  Every word counts and as we hear over and over again, words matter.  Enjoy the …

California Quaking

Why we don’t have earthquakes in Florida

Earthquakes are as rare in Florida as hurricanes are in California.  We’ve only had 5 earthquakes in Florida since 1727 and California has had zero hurricanes and only two tropical storms.  But it doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate and learn from the different construction standards and catastrophe modeling …

Of Pain and Paine

Thomas Paine: a philosopher, a mediocre soldier, and author of Common Sense, a pamphlet written in 1775–76 advocating independence from Great Britain to those people living in the thirteen colonies.  Though comparably a more radical member of the intellects behind the American Revolution, he nevertheless called for independence in his pamphlet long before others …