Florida Auto Loans

The State of Florida’s Smoke and Mirrors. Got to love the Florida Governor, he is trying the impossible; that is make every homeowner happy with what they are paying for their insurance premium. “The Gov” and his merry band of legislators concocted a plan that was nothing more than a pacifier to the citizens of Florida. It is a dangerous plan a house of cards that literally will be destroyed by the winds. In this plan instead of encouraging companies to write insurance using actuarially “sound” rates and build large reserves, the citizens will pay for losses by being charged “Assessments”.

The citizenry of Florida have been fed this load of crap because it makes them feel good. No one has really explained what an assessment really is and will happen if the Governor’s “BET” goes bad and we have more than one cataclysmic hurricane.

If this were to happen “EVERY” property policyholder (renter, homeowner or commercial policy holder ) will have to pay a huge assessment, which will be added on to next years premium. In other words if this was to occur you would not get your insurance for the next year until you paid THAT YEAR’S premium PLUS assessment.

HOW MUCH?

How bad? The assessment will be based on the amount of money that will be paid out from the hurricanes. One study conducted by Towers Perrin estimates the assessment to pay off bonds to bail out the state could range from $1,700 to $14,000 per policy. Floridians in return get an average saving of $265 on their 2007 property insurance rates, again only a feel good post election pacifier.

THE EVIL INSURANCE EMPIRE

The press and hapless radio talk show hosts who have no clue on what the industry is all about have demonized the insurance companies. The industry has suddenly been characterized as racketeers and thugs. Agents have become uncaring moneygrubbers who are making excess profits on the backs of the citizenry.

Since my experience in the industry is now spanning 4 decades as I remember this rhetoric is nothing new. In the late 70’s and through out the 1980’s the regulators were beating their drums and legislating limit on how much money a carrier could make and had even mandated a repayment of premium that was “over charged”.

It seems that companies were fortifying their reserve requirement and investing profits in such evil endeavors such as building, office complexes, hospitals, to build the value of there entity. In addition many of theses stock and mutual companies were “giving” back in the forms of dividends. I even remember hearing the same talk show hosts complain about the insurance rates then. Yea we are old.