It’s been a wild ride and more contentious than any other Legislative Session in recent history and it’s finally over. The public adjusting industry, through the tireless efforts of our Lobby team, Board of Directors and the engagement of our members particularly our FAPIA Ambassadors, remains unscathed through 2020.
Our industry defeated:
• arbitrary water cap limits in all policies;
• additional deductibles for roof claims;
• a proposed thirty-day right of rescission on the declared state of emergency claims;
• a proposed increased right of rescission on all claims;
• a proposed 2-year notice requirement on all initial claims and re-opened claims
SB 1492 and SB 1404 which were the primary bills we had concerns about were finally officially withdrawn from consideration at 12:24 am on Saturday, March 14th. It was non-stop and relentless, especially in that 11th hour of the session. To all of you who took up the calls to action and wrote to your elected officials, we ask that you take a moment to write back to them now and respectfully thank them for their engagement. The following is a sample letter, but it’s always better if you use your own words.
Dear Senator **
I’m writing to THANK YOU for listening to my concerns about several amendments that were highly controversial and very anti-consumer. As you know, the insurance climate is often very difficult for policyholders as evidenced by the numbers of claims still open and unpaid from the last few hurricanes. Policyholders need protection from their elected officials, not regulations that place further burdens on the backs of insured Floridians.
Thank you for listening and as a policyholder advocate, I look forward to engaging with you throughout the year on insurance issues. If you ever require guidance on insurance matters that affect policyholders, I encourage you to reach out to me or to the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters as we stand ready to assist.
After a couple of weeks of much-needed recovery time, our Legislative team will begin developing our strategy for the 2021 Session which will be commencing in March of 2021. We will have a complete update for your at the Spring Conference and we hope to see you there. We always like to hear from licensees so please share your feedback with us when you have a moment.