Are Florida’s insurance regulators stretched too thin?
As insurers project how a pile of new laws will affect profits and losses, regulators in Tallahassee are falling behind in their efforts to review and approve rate hike requests.
Though the shortcomings are not immediately affecting consumers, if not repaired, policyholders could find themselves paying more than they should for insurance coverage or, if they move or buy insurance from another company, difficult to be tracked down if regulators determine they are owed refunds.
The backlog means the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is sending more notices like this to insurance companies:
“As you are aware, the residential property market in Florida is under stress and the number of filings being made has increased. Due to this increased workload, we have been unable to complete the review of your filing and we respectfully request that you waive the deemer on the filing. Please respond to this email within the next two days stating your willingness to waive the deemer either for an unlimited period of time or provide a revised deemer date that is at least one month from the current deemer date.”