Insurance defense attorneys’ take on new law
It took a little over a week for the roofing industry to file a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block Florida’s new property insurance reform law that Governor DeSantis signed and is set to take effect this Thursday July 1. Meanwhile, the roofers are already educating their members on the new law, including workarounds. For those who want a correct, detailed walkthrough of the new law, SB 76, read on.
Gale Force Roofing and Restoration of Hillsborough filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, claiming SB 76 infringes on the company’s constitutional right of freedom of speech. The suit is against Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) Secretary Julie Brown in her role of enforcing Section 1 of the law on roofing advertisement and solicitation. Most of the lawsuit contains the roofing industry’s commentary heard during the 2021 legislative session debate. The company also filed an emergency motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the law from going into effect Thursday. The suit indicates the new law “will necessarily make it unlawful for Plaintiff to continue to provide its services to its customers helping homeowners quickly recover from the life-interrupting damage Mother Nature brings to Florida.”
Meanwhile, Richie Kidwell, President of the Restoration Association of Florida (RAF) has been working to educate its members, advising them to “Stay in your lane as a roofer.”
On the latest episode of my Florida Insurance Roundup podcast, I sat down with insurance defense lawyers Tom Diana and Michael Monteverde of the award-winning Zinober Diana & Monteverde law firm. We walked through SB 76, with Tom and Michael providing their experienced analysis and perspective on each section of the new law, its likely impact, and the areas where legal conflicts may arise in its interpretation. This is a must-listen to podcast for anyone in Florida’s property insurance industry. The show notes section of the podcast’s webpage includes a link to the video webinar from which this podcast was created.
The DBPR and the Department of Financial Services (DFS) will be responsible for enforcement of different sections of the new law. We’ve been in touch with DFS and they advise anyone (homeowners, insurance professionals, attorneys, etc.) who see violations of the law to report them, using its Insurance Fraud Portal. This includes unlicensed activity & other violations of SB 76 and SB 1598 (which we’ll address in our next story).
Here’s the information DFS will require:
- Name of individual or company acting in unlicensed capacity
- Any associated identifying information (address, phone, FEIN, etc.)
- Location and date of activity
- Individuals contacted by unlicensed party or witnesses
- Any supporting documentation available
- Description of activity – who, what, when, where, how
- Contact information for reporting party
These laws are only as good as their enforcement. As the old expression goes, “If you see something, say something!”
LMA Newsletter of 6-28-21
