Jacob Ogles
In his life outside of Tallahassee, Sen. Jim Boyd sells insurance. Now, he’s chairing the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
Senate President Wilton Simpson announced committee chairs on Wednesday, and included even freshman Senators in the mix. Of course, Boyd isn’t exactly new to the process. He served eight years in the House, rising to Deputy Majority Leader and Majority Whip in his final term.
As he looks to insurance policy heading into Session, Boyd was careful not to predict too much. He has yet to have a proper meeting with committee staff, and he has spent two years out of public service so he needs a refresher on the finer points of policy.
He’s confident right now in the state of Citizens Property Insurance, Florida’s state-managed insurer of last resort. But he’s also abundantly aware of problems that faced the corporation in the past.
“It’s not a liability for the state of Florida in terms of the exposure right now,” he said. It’s important things stay that way, he said, as over-exposure would leave Florida taxpayers on the hook in the event of catastrophe.
When Boyd first arrived in Tallahassee a decade ago, the supposed last resort was an option used by some 1.5 million policy-holders. That’s about three times the number of policies in place today, but amid a pandemic-driven economic downturn, the number of users has jumped substantially in 2020.
At that point, the rates were competitive with private insurance, a problem for a number of reasons, Boyd said.
He has some stake. He’s the CEO of Boyd Insurance & Investments, and has been an accredited advisor in insurance since 1985.
But his chief concern is that as a state entity, Citizens can’t operate with too much risk. Right now, it seems well capitalized and properly funded with a reasonable number of policies. But if there’s a rush to the provider like that seen during the Great Recession, problems could arise quickly.
“Lots of families were hit very hard,” he said of the current financial crisis. “In the big picture, some can pay their premiums but some can’t. Now, I think our economy is coming back strongly.”
Low debt and solid surpluses in Florida mean the state should be positioned to bounce back economically better than some other states, Boyd said. He will remain cognizant going forward, however, that the insurance market plays an important role in the marketplace, one that must stay competitive.
