Florida’s governor passes controversial legislation to help protect insurance companies from lawsuits amid the state’s insurance crisis.
Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the controversial HB 837 law that had generated a division within his own party and which aims to protect insurance companies from lawsuits, amid the state’s insurance crisis.
Vidal Sainz Jr., an insurance agent, says: “This is not going to benefit the consumer at all, it takes away their rights and makes them crush more, not only with the premiums they pay, but also with the how businesses behave, with insurance companies denying claims by offering less than assessed damages, forcing people to sue them.
Francisco Arcia, a worried resident, says: “I don’t agree with this type of law, we must make laws that protect the consumer, the citizen and these big companies that earn millions of dollars.”
According to the governor, this legislation is necessary to curb the high number of lawsuits against insurance companies, which could in turn reduce rates, however, according to this insurance agent, this is very unlikely to happen .
“It won’t happen when they gave it away. $3 billion to help them with the cost of reinsurance and also did not lower the premium, which increased by 50%”.
Carlos Andrea, a worried inhabitant, declares: “all the insurances go up, the house, the car and the maintenance became impossible”.
Many Republican senators like this insurance agent worry that this new law will tip the balance too much in favor of insurers, coupled with the fact that Floridians pay some of the highest auto and home insurance rates in the country.
Another important aspect of this new law is the fact that when a claim is made against an insurer, if the client wins, he must pay the court costs, which was previously paid by the insurance company.