Citrus County Chronicle – Florida Justice Reform Institute

By Jim Saunders News Service of Florida Mar 14, 2025 Updated Mar 14, 2025

Rep. Hillary Cassel, R-Dania Beach, is sponsoring a bill to revamp a law about attorney fees in insurance disputes. – Colin Hackley/File/NSF

TALLAHASSEE — More than two years after the Florida Legislature clamped down on lawsuits against property insurance companies, a House panel Thursday reopened a major debate about attorney fees when homeowners and insurers battle over claims.

The House Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee voted 16-1 to approve a bill (HB 1551) that would revamp a 2022 law that shielded property insurers from paying customers’ attorney fees. The insurance industry argues the law has reduced costly litigation and helped revive the market after financial troubles.

But supporters of Thursday’s bill said the 2022 law was tilted too far toward insurers and led to homeowners being unable to fight companies over wrongfully denied claims.

“At some point, we as a Legislature have got to make sure that we’re standing up for the people of Florida and maybe not the insurance companies of Florida,” Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, said.

Opponents of the bill, however, said the law has worked in helping attract carriers to Florida and holding down rates. They warned that the bill would undo the progress.

“Kudos to you. It (the law) is working,” Katelyn Ferry, who represented the business-backed Florida Justice Reform Institute, told the House panel. “Why are we fixing it?”

Attorney fees have long been a major battleground in insurance debates. Before the 2022 law, Florida had what is often described as a “one-way” attorney fee system for property insurance. Essentially, that meant If a policyholder successfully sued an insurer over a wrongfully denied claim, the insurer would be responsible for paying the policyholder’s attorney fees.

Supporters of the fee system said it ensured consumers would be able to go to court to challenge deep-pocketed insurers. But opponents said it provided an incentive for plaintiffs’ attorneys to flood the courts with lawsuits and drained money from the industry.

With carriers dropping large numbers of policies, increasing rates and, in some cases, going insolvent, lawmakers in 2022 eliminated the one-way fee system for property insurance. They followed in 2023 by passing legal changes that more broadly helped insurers.

The insurance industry and other supporters of eliminating one-way attorney fees, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, argue the change has helped the property insurance market bounce back.

The House bill would shift to what sponsor Hillary Cassel, R-Dania Beach, described as a “loser pays” fee system. If a policyholder sues an insurer, the judge would award attorney fees to whichever side prevails in the case.

Cassel said the approach would provide an incentive to settle disputes, while restoring “balance.”

“This bill does not bring us backward,” said Cassel, an attorney who represents consumers in cases against insurance companies. “But this bill does bring us balance. We are currently in an unbalanced, unjust system.”

The bill drew support from the groups such as the Florida Justice Association, which represents plaintiffs’ attorneys. It faced opposition from groups such as Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Insurance Council and the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, which represents national insurers.

“We believe this bill points us back in the direction of less options and a more unstable market by being less focused on the true needs of policyholders, whether they be homeowners or businesses, and more focused on the needs of the lawyers,” Associated Industries of Florida lobbyist Adam Basford said.

Rep. Susan Plasencia, R-Orlando, cast the dissenting vote Thursday. The bill would need to clear two more House panels before it could go to the full House. Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, has filed a similar bill (SB 426) in the Senate.

https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/state/insurance-attorney-fee-fight-refueled/article_4c97cfca-69d0-51ba-a4c0-ab24925e33dc.html

Debate heats up over property insurance claims

By News Service of Florida
Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 9:32 pm (Updated: January 10, 9:32 pm)

TALLAHASSEE — With insurers and regulators blaming a surge in water-damage claims for higher property-insurance rates, Florida lawmakers Tuesday began grappling with a controversial debate that includes homeowners, contractors, insurance companies and trial lawyers.

The issue centers on a practice known as “assignment of benefits,” which involves homeowners signing over insurance benefits to contractors who are hired to do repairs. Supporters say the practice can help ensure that insurance companies pay claims properly — but critics say abuses of the practice are driving up insurance premiums.

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee heard testimony from both sides Tuesday, and the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee is scheduled to host a panel discussion Wednesday. Lawmakers also tried to untangle the issue last year but could not reach agreement on a bill.

“The time to act is now,” state Insurance Consumer Advocate Sha’Ron James told the Senate committee Tuesday.

Much of the focus of the issue is on Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, where water-damage claims for problems such as leaking pipes have soared in recent years. The increased claims have affected the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which blames water-damage claims and assignment of benefits for playing a key role in rate increases taking effect Feb. 1.

Critics contend that assignment of benefits can lead to inflated or fraudulent claims and increased lawsuits against insurance companies. David Bronstein, an insurance-defense attorney who spoke on behalf of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, told senators that the current assignment-of-benefits system “is simply not in the best interest of Florida consumers.”

“This whole AOB (assignment of benefits) system is about a special interest of lawyers and vendors creating clients, as opposed to clients in need of lawyers,” Bronstein, who is from Broward County, said. “No one’s house gets fixed any better or any faster. It only gets fixed more expensively with this fabricated system that’s been in place for a few years now.”

But some contractors Tuesday accused insurance companies of delaying claim payments or not paying the proper amounts. They said assignment of benefits helps force insurers to act properly.

“They don’t pay me. I wait 60, 90, 120, 150 days to get paid. … There’s so much abuse (by insurers). The AOB protects us little guys, the David against the giant,” said Dave DeBlander, owner of Pro Clean Restoration & Cleaning in Pensacola.

Members of the Senate committee said relatively little about the assignment-of-benefits issue, though Chairwoman Anitere Flores, R-Miami, released a statement later that said the meeting “ensured us the opportunity to openly discuss the rising costs of insurance, and the need to stay accountable to consumers.”

“The insurance rate hikes that have been going into effect recently will negatively impact the growth of our state in regards to home ownership and new business opportunities,” Flores said. “As an advocate for legislation that keeps insurance rates predictable and affordable, I reminded my Senate colleagues that we were not only elected as the voice of our constituents in Tallahassee; we were elected to bring about responsible reforms on a growing statewide challenge.”

Citizens Property Insurance has aggressively targeted the assignment-of-benefits issue. Officials said last month that Citizens could grow by about 50,000 policies in 2017, as private insurers shy away from issuing policies in South Florida because of water-damage claims.

But some contractors said lawmakers should use regulations to weed out people who improperly use assignment of benefits, rather than making major changes to the system.

http://www.chronicleonline.com/content/debate-heats-over-property-insurance-claims

Insurance attorney fee fight refueled

Debate Heats Up Over Property Insurance Claims

Debate heats up over property insurance claims

Florida Justice Reform Institute

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