ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Here are some of our 2022 accomplishments to date on behalf of our clients:

+ Identified and launched a strategy to persuade a reluctant legislative leader refusing to go along with needed reforms to save Florida’s spiraling property insurance market.

+ Generated broader awareness of the growing crisis through expanded coverage of industry news and consumer-impact stories in the LMA Newsletter, The Florida Insurance Roundup podcast, and associated social media posts.

+ Initiated contact with statewide and national print and broadcast media to help educate them on the problem, provide needed relevance, and facilitate interviews with key lawmakers and insurance consumers for their stories, including a nearly hour-long special, Inside Florida’s property insurance crisis aired on NPR stations across the country.

+ Increased greater grass-roots support for reform by addressing various stakeholder groups on the Demotech webinar series and a 200-member group of condominium and homeowners associations.

+ Collaborated with key lawmakers and the Governor’s Office to successfully advocate for a 2022 Special Session of the Florida Legislature to address property insurance, including helping draft key documents.

+ Created the most comprehensive library to date of key research reports, media stories, and multimedia materials to provide easy access for journalists and stakeholders on a dedicated 2022 Litigation Reform & Consumer Protections webpage on the LMA website.

+ Organized an effort to successfully revisit the upfront annual assessment by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association that allowed insurance companies instead to pay quarterly.

+ Achieved Together positive reforms, with work continuing on more comprehensive measures still needed.

+ Facilitated consensus among all stakeholders to secure an initial $1.4 million in funding to build the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s new hurricane-resistant Pensacola Regional Operations Center, opening in 2023.

 

Here are some of our 2021 accomplishments on behalf of our clients:

+ Helped insurance companies and a coalition of consumer groups achieve legislative property insurance reforms on roof solicitation, claims, and litigation abuses.

+ Educated news media on Florida’s property insurance dilemma, resulting in an article in the Wall Street Journal on how rising insurance costs threaten Florida’s real estate boom, an article in Trading Risk and Inside P&C on claim trends that are crippling insurance carriers and punishing reinsurers, and a Lisa Miller viewpoint in the national Claims Journal citing NAIC data that Florida has 8% of all homeowners’ claims in the U.S., yet 76% of all homeowners’ claims lawsuits. These articles and data were essential in successfully convincing the 2021 Legislature to change Florida’s one-way attorney fee statute and enact related reforms.

+ Counseled a top 15 public accounting firm in winning a $600 million contract to implement and administer the Homeowner Assistance Fund, to help Floridians avoid mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and help with utility payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

+ Guided a national disaster recovery company in winning a $70 million administrative contract providing emergency rental and utility assistance to Floridians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

+ Persuaded lawmakers to stop the ridiculous practice of requiring contractors and other trades to be licensed both locally and by the state, resulting in successful passage of HB 735, prohibiting local governments from imposing or modifying licensing requirements.

+ Led the strategy to pass cost-saving changes to the Florida Building Code through successful passage of HB 401, which allows qualified private providers to review construction plans and provide inspections, with cost savings passed back to the builder through reduced permit fees.

+ Created strategy and message development for an international catastrophe risk modeling firm in winning a renewal of a multi-million dollar multi-year contract with a large Florida public organization.

+ Argued successfully for a change in Florida’s Medicaid fee reimbursement schedule for a specific medical procedure.

+ Defined the value proposition for a large state agency real estate project, resulting in its successful inclusion in the state budget.

+ Provided the insurance education component to the Florida Housing Coalition webinar series on disaster recovery, which was honored with the 2021 Public/Private Achievement Award from the Governor’s Hurricane Conference.

+ Advised an innovative farm-to-prison food distribution program with Senator Jeff Brandes that brought needed fresh produce to Florida prisons and helped local farmers whose supply chains were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Here are some of our 2020 accomplishments on behalf of our clients:

+ Negotiated needed changes leading to successful passage of the Private Primary Residential Flood Insurance Model Act by the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) to improve the availability of private flood insurance across the U.S.

+ Facilitated market expansion of Florida’s model private flood insurance law to other states, resulting in both North and South Carolina passing similar laws.

+ Created a winning strategy for a national client to take over a multi-million dollar multi-year contract with a large carrier providing insurance claims services to homeowners.  The client cited LMA’s “insights, contacts and knowledge were instrumental in our securing this win!”

+ Counseled a major firm to win Florida’s COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic vaccination program contract.

+ Fought for insurance consumers through its pro-bono work to raise awareness and action against unscrupulous trial attorneys in insurance claims litigation – setting the stage for further legislative reforms in 2021.

+ Helped position clients to respond to negative changes in the Florida homeowners insurance marketplace that enabled them to reduce losses and gain greater exposure to new business opportunities inside and outside of Florida.

+ Published an article in the national Insurance Journal on the growing nationwide problem of flooding occurring outside of FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas that is largely uninsured and especially bad in urban areas, as part of a broader effort to raise consumer awareness and offer solutions.

 

Here are some of our 2019 accomplishments on behalf of our clients:

+ Helped a coalition of insurance consumer groups gain long-sought legislative reform of Assignment of Benefits (AOB) abuse by unscrupulous contractors and attorneys through consistent, effective media outreach and strategic legislative and grass-roots advocacy.

+ Facilitated market expansion of Florida’s model private flood insurance law to other states, resulting in the South Carolina and Illinois legislatures considering written bills and several other states contemplating action.

+ Advised property insurance companies and lawmakers on creation of a national Private Flood Insurance Model Act put before the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL); negotiated needed changes.

+ Fought successfully as part of a team to raise an insurer’s loss adjustment expense reimbursement from 5% to 10% by the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

+ Defended successfully as part of a team the ongoing encroachment of the surplus lines industry into Florida’s admitted market by stopping the proposed elimination of the due diligence affidavit that surplus lines agents must complete before placing a consumer with a surplus carrier.

+ Guided a client’s Florida team to pass legislation to fight Florida’s opioid epidemic. The new law defends a patient’s right to refuse opioid drugs and requires health care practitioners to inform patients of non-opioid alternatives and their advantages and disadvantages in treatment.

+ Secured a lasting partnership between a signature environmental remediation client and the Florida Association of Counties to create a more aggressive approach to the blue-green algae crisis and promote new filtration technologies for cleaner water

 

Here are some of our 2017-2018 accomplishments on behalf of our clients:

+ Assisted start-up homeowners insurance companies understand the current market and how to position themselves accordingly; create responsive products to market needs; facilitate conversations with insurance agents; and communicate effectively with policyholders.

+ Advised property casualty insurance companies on legal and regulatory framework, helping them achieve compliance.

+ Resolved a compliance issue between an insurance company and the Florida Department of Financial Services, avoiding thousands of dollars in fines and similar scrutiny from multi-state regulators.

+ Negotiated the transition of a previously regulated consumer service plan to unregulated status outside of the Florida Insurance Code.

+ Assisted a large flood mitigation device manufacturer to successfully have the device and the outcome it produces included in a prominent catastrophe model.

+ Recruited talent and created training classes to provide more licensed adjusters to meet a critical shortage facing several insurance companies post-Hurricane Irma.

+ Helped a client craft a winning proposal for a multi-million dollar contract to provide disaster recovery services after Hurricane Irma.

+ Negotiated with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to resolve a multi-million dollar contract dispute in favor of an energy-environment client.

+ Counseled a major firm to win one of only two FEMA catastrophe modeling contracts in the nation.

 

Pre-2017 accomplishments on behalf of our clients

+ Winning a multi-million dollar contract for a client handling claims for those affected by the BP oil spill in the Gulf and $60 million for Florida Realtors to compensate realtors who lost business because of the spill.

+ Gaining $100 million in appropriations for charter schools’ facilities funding.

+ Securing a $4 million state appropriation in the 2016 session for a client who was awarded Florida’s Division of Emergency Management statewide incident notification system.

+ Helping change Citizens Insurance assessments to encourage more private insurers into the Florida market and reduce consumer impacts (See our successful issue paper leading to passage of HB 1127 into law).

+ Leading the insurance industry team to revise how the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association funds an insurer insolvency.  This first-of-its-kind-in-the-country legislation changed the way guaranty associations garner financial resources to pay claims. (See our successful issue paper leading to passage of HB 836 into law)

+ Facilitating the development and implementation of an ongoing comprehensive policy and regulatory framework to open Florida’s flood insurance market to private firms through passage of Florida’s two key laws (SB 1094 and SB 542).