A political titan has filed a provocative bill he says will reduce insurance costs in Florida — and the insurance industry doesn’t like his proposals. One provision would roll back recent restrictions on fees that attorneys can collect when they sue insurers. Another provision would require insurers to publicly disclose their companies’ subsidiaries and affiliates and all of the ways their executives benefit from them.
The proposals are in similar bills filed in the state House and Senate this week. The House bill was filed by Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola.
The Senate bill was filed by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Crestview, a longtime heavyweight in Florida politics and father of former U.S.
Rep. Matt Gaetz. Don Gaetz was reelected to the state Senate last fall after an eight-year absence.
Last year, he campaigned on promises to fix an insurance system that has continued to raise costs for homeowners while saving significant money avoiding legal costs. “Floridians pay far more for property insurance than anyone anywhere else in the nation,” the two lawmakers were quoted in a news release as saying. “Admittedly, Florida is a high-risk market, but we believe there are steps the Legislature can take to improve how rates are set and how individual claims can be processed faster and fairer.
” The release quoted Gaetz blaming high insurance prices for the slowing pace of new residents coming to Florida. “High insurance costs make the Free State of Florida into the Unaffordabl.
