Florida House Speaker Calls for Investigation into Property Insurance
Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez has announced the formation of a committee to investigate the financial practices of property insurance companies within the state. This action follows a report by the Tampa Bay Times that highlighted potential financial discrepancies. The report suggests that Florida insurance companies may be claiming financial losses while their parent companies and affiliated entities are generating significant profits.
This week, WMNF’s Chris Young spoke with Lawrence Mower, the Tallahassee correspondent for the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald. Mower, after a two-year wait for public records, published a study revealing potentially questionable profit practices by the insurance companies.
According to the report, insurance companies may be significantly overcharged for services by their affiliate companies. This practice has been going on for decades, and the report shows that the cost of these services is not fair or reasonable under state regulations. The effect of this practice is that less money is available to pay claims, potentially weakening the financial stability of the insurance companies. In extreme cases, some companies have even gone out of business.
“As soon as the money leaves the insurance company and goes to an affiliate, for the most part, it’s no longer available to pay claims…” – Lawrence Mower
Mower expressed surprise that the report, which was a state report never previously given to lawmakers, sparked a legislative investigation. Some lawmakers were upset that they did not have access to the report even during emergency sessions to deal with the insurance crisis. Now, lawmakers are examining the use of these affiliate companies, leading to this new investigation.
