Aug 03
STATEMENT BY SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER STEVEN GELLER ON FLORIDA’S INSURANCE CRISIS
TALLAHASSEE- Senate Democratic Leader Steven A. Geller(D -Hallandale Beach) on Thursday issued the following statement regarding Florida's insurance rates.
I agree with Governor Crist that we need a full and immediate explanation from the insurance industry as to why the promised rate reductions for property owners in this state have largely failed to materialize.
Floridians, along with this Legislature, have been patient long enough.
For that reason, I urge Senate President Ken Pruitt to convene special Senate hearings into the insurance rates controversy, and to launch those hearings as early as the upcoming special legislative session.
Top insurance company officials need to appear and testify under oath – through subpoenas if necessary – and know that perjury charges will be brought if their answers are not candid and truthful.
As we learned during the Senate's medical malpractice insurance hearings, the stories told under threat of perjury can differ dramatically from those told without fear of sanctions.
During last January's special session, top industry representatives specifically told us that the reasons for the soaring property insurance rates in Florida were the high cost of reinsurance. We solved that problem by expanding the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (CAT Fund) to provide more inexpensive reinsurance to the industry. Additionally, rates for private reinsurance have also gone down because of our actions. Yet the windstorm rates for Floridians not only have not come down, they appear to be on the rise, along with the insurers profits.
Property owners in Florida and members of this Senate deserve to know why the promises received from the insurance industry of lower rates in exchange for that additional reinsurance have not been kept. They need to hear first hand whether the explanations for their failure to lower rates are the truth or just additional delay tactics to boost their bottom line.
State Senate District
District Office
400 S. Federal Hwy.
Suite 204
Hallandale Beach, FL 33309
Phone (954) 893-5089
Capitol Office
228 Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
Phone (850) 487-5097
Email Senator Geller – Geller.Steven.web@flsenate.gov
www.flsenate.gov
Legislative Assistants: Gail R. Schwartz, Charles Cassini, Sammy Kalmowicz, Steven A. Geller – FL Senate Minority Leader
