Despite their different audiences, this year the two events had one particularly striking thing in common — CFO Alex Sink was a prominent and welcomed feature at both. At FAIA, she was warmly greeted as a headline speaker at the awards luncheon. In a wonderful full-circle moment, she also installed former Insurance Commissioner Bill Gunter as the incoming FAIA chairman.

At WCEC, she was introduced to the opening-day audience with effusive praise by General Chairman Jim McConnaughhay, who called her a “great friend to our industry.”

We could use some friends right now.

We are taking some hard hits in the media for our perceived “reneging” on windstorm mitigation discounts. A series of public hearings sponsored by the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology is stirring things up, as are the calls by some carriers and industry groups to reduce the discounts. Lost amid all of the hyperbole are a few cogent facts. First, many credits should not have been awarded in the first place. Second, the discounts are excessive, thanks to Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, who doubled the credits in March 2007.

Which brings us back to my summer journeys — In a telling demonstration at the Florida Surplus Lines Association conference, attendees were asked to raise their hands if they had applied for a windstorm mitigation discount on their homeowners' insurance. About a dozen hands went up. Then we were asked if we had received the discount. Several hands went down; the rest stayed up. Then came the final question: Who had actually done something to harden their homes to earn the credit? Two hands stayed up — mine and one other person's.

I actually lucked into the discount. I had to install new roof tiles and re-screen the pool after both a storm and old age finally took their toll on my home two years ago. My neighbor (an insurance agent) told me about the discounts and gave me the name of his inspector. Voila! A few weeks later, I received a nice refund check from my insurer, along with a notice of my brand new, much lower rate. Did I deserve the credits? Yes. I actually had “walked the walk.” Was my cost reduced by a significant amount? Yes. Was the discount excessive? Maybe. Did I object? No.