The Florida Insurance Council is Florida's largest nonprofit insurance trade association. We are a multi-line trade, which is to say that our members write virtually all lines of insurance. Our members write in excess of $20 billion in premium in Florida annually. Our property insurers write the vast majority of all homeowners' policies sold in the state, exclusive of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.

We appreciate what the Standard Personal Lines Advisory Committee is doing and what the legislature intended to do with this piece of legislation calling for the possible creation of a standardized policy. Unfortunately, sometimes even the best of intentions can lead to adverse consequences. We believe this is one of those occasions. Think about it. A standard policy; doesn't that remove consumer choice from the marketplace? Is that good for an economy founded on consumer choice? The answer is a resounding no. Free market forces drive our economy, which is the most successful the world has ever seen.

We should ask ourselves what signal creating a standard policy sends to the consuming public: "I'm sorry, we don't think you are smart enough to make an informed decision so the government is going to make it for you"? We don't think that is the signal you want to send or the one the legislature intended. Now, let me hasten to add that we believe an informed public is a strong public. Just look at the millions of dollars the industry spends annually to try to inform our customers. It's just that a standard policy is not the way to go.