Category Archives: Insurance and Politics

Candidates Differ on Solution to Insurance Crisis

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A report from Channel 2 in Lee County today said that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis’s running mate, Daryl Jones, was in Fort Myers on Thursday to reveal the Hurricane Premium Protection Fund.

Here are some details that I will highlight from the plan. Please visit the link above to read more about it.

The Hurricane Premium Protection Fund will lower rates by providing inexpensive capital to insurance companies to allow them to pay claims in a timely and efficient manner. After lowering the cost of capital, Davis will hold insurance companies accountable for passing the savings on to policyholders.

So if our tax dollars are going towards this fund? Won’t we see an increase in taxes or a lowering of service to pay for it? Isn’t that like spending from the right to save money in the left?

The Hurricane Premium Protection Fund will cover a percentage of the hurricane loss sustained by properties, up to a yearly max of 20 Billion dollars. The fund will be overseen by the governor and the Cabinet. The governor and the Cabinet will have authority to adjust the coverage limits per policy, potentially up to $500,000, and the percentage between 70% and 90%. These adjustments will allow for changing conditions in the insurance market and the amount of cash that is built up in the Hurricane Premium Protection Fund.

The governor and the Cabinet will oversee the fund. Isn’t that who we should be holding accountable for the current mess?

Isn’t there a candidate who will commit to finding a solution that is not going to cost us twice us much on the back end. How many of you think that it is the insurance companies who are going to win here, the make major profits at our expense, and we are going to have to spend tax dollars to save our selves money. Come folks, if these two can’t solve it, who can.

Please share you opinion and remember to vote.

Voters Want Insurance Solutions From Candidates

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Voters want insurance solutions from candidates and they want it now. Both of our candidates say they can solve the insurance crisis. Both say they have a better plan. Both have been in politics for many years, one is currently a member of the Governor’s cabinet. Sorry Charlie, give us a solution, stake your claim as Governor by commiting to fix this mess that you and the other politicians have created. You are the one’s in office, you caused it, you need to fix it. If not, I can see us 4 years from now, saying the same old “George W. Bush” statements that you are the right guy to continue fixing it.

Fix it now. Tell us what you are going to do.

A new poll from Quinnipiac University says that nearly six out of every 10 voters thinks that is the top issue in this year’s governor’s race.

Sixty percent of Republicans chose that as their top concern, as opposed to 24 percent who cited tax cuts. Fifty-four percent of Democrats identified property insurance as their top worry, compared with 26 percent who cited the FCAT.

Anytime 60% of Republicans think something other than a TAX CUT is the important issue, it must be an issue.

“Some good news for Davis is that he has been talking a great deal about the insurance crisis in the state and voters say that is the most important issue,” Brown said.

Not surprisingly, Crist and Davis have pushed property insurance to the front of their campaigns. This week, Davis unveiled the second portion of his insurance initiative, including an ambitious revamping of the state’s existing hurricane insurance catastrophe fund.

On Wednesday, Davis launched a 15-second television commercial, telling voters he “will stand up to the insurance companies with a real plan to lower rates.”

Crist, who has criticized Davis for not coming out earlier on the issue, has his own plan, which he says will lower rates and offer more incentives to homeowners to “storm proof” their homes. A key element in Crist’s plan would make it easier for insurance companies to tap into a state catastrophe fund which should lower their costs and should be reflected in lower rates to consumers — perhaps as much as a 20 percent cut.

But both candidates appear to be offering proposals that may run into trouble in the Legislature and could face opposition from a powerful insurance industry. Consumer advocates and industry representatives say the public debate over insurance solutions is a positive sign.

Get on the Ball Charlie and Jim. Let us hear what you got…..

Davis takes on property insurance crisis

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With his campaign sputtering toward the Nov. 7 elections, Democrat Jim Davis is trying to save his gubernatorial aspirations to the single biggest issue voters seem to care about this year: sky-high property insurance hikes.

Davis, the Tampa congressman, issued an election-year pledge today to create a new Hurricane Premium Protection Fund that he said could help lower insurance premiums as soon as next year.

Do you believe him?

Davis said the plan would immediately reduce premiums because he would ask lawmakers to force insurers to lower their rates by the amount they would be saving in re-insurance costs.

Well at least it is something. Charlie still plans to work with the cabinet to fix it. Seems like a fix……

Oh well. Keep the comments coming.