Florida has established a new Joint Underwriting Association to provide commercial property insurance to those businesses unable to secure coverage in the private market.
The new JUA was established through an emergency rule approved by Governor Jeb Bush after a presentation by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty on the growing commercial insurance problem facing the state. Under Florida law, the state can form a JUA to help provide commercial property coverage only if enough businesses appeal to the state for help.
"I have heard from too many Florida business owners who are facing losing their insurance in the middle of hurricane season," Mr. McCarty said in a statement. "If left unchecked, this problem will have a negative effect on our state's economy, as we have already heard from businesses that may have to move out of Florida."
The emergency rule makes use of a 1986 law that created a similar JUA to deal with a commercial insurance crisis at the time, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. That JUA was eventually deactivated, but the statute--and the triggering mechanisms to re-establish the JUA--remained on the books.
Gov. Bush's cabinet voted unanimously to establish the emergency rule for 90 days, during which the normal rule-making process will proceed. The new JUA will be overseen by a 13-member board, which will be appointed by Tom Gallagher, state chief financial officer.
Also on Tuesday, Gov. Bush named 12 members of a newly created Property & Casualty Insurance Technical Advisory Committee. This included executives from Travelers of Florida, State Farm, Allstate and American Strategic Insurance. The committee also includes members from the banking industry, agents and lawyers. All members' terms expire in May of next year.
Additionally, Gov. Bush appointed retired insurance executive Richard DeChene to the board of Citizen's Property Insurance Corp., the state's homeowners' insurer of last resort.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
