Jim Boyd focuses on fairness for insurance, consumers as Special Session begins

Since his election to the Florida Senate in 2020, Sen. Jim Boyd has tried to reform to Florida’s insurance market. In that time, the situation in many ways has only gotten worse, with carriers continuing to fail.

With a Special Session set to start today, Boyd unveiled a 105-page Senate bill representing a series of fixes to stabilize the market and control costs.

Of course, this marks the second Special Session just this year on insurance, and the regular Legislative Session starts in March. So what will be prioritizes to tackle this week and what debates have to wait another day?

“Attorney fee reform is something everyone agrees on,” Boyd said.

Granted, “everyone” is a term that seems to cover a majority in control of the Florida Legislature right now. Resistance from trial attorneys prevented major reform from coming up during the last two years, a time when former Speaker Chris Sprowls notably controlled what would be tolerated by the Florida House.

But perpetual concerns about litigation in Florida have increased demand for action, Boyd said.

“The other side will argue with us, but it is such a cost driver in the abuse,” he said. “When Florida has 8% of the property claims in the country, but 78% of lawsuits come from Florida, that’s pretty telling.”

He also considers the structure for one-sides attorney fees to be intrinsically unfair. Boyd, an insurance agent by trade, said that he’s seen many instances where insurance companies offer settlement amounts but customers push to go to court, and sometimes end up with a smaller award anyhow. Why is it, then, that insurers end up paying more to cover court costs in that situation than they were already willing to pay consumers at the start?

Also expect work around the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, he said. That should help improve the state of Florida’s re-insurance market, Boyd said.

Expect a “modernization” of the state-run Citizens Property Insurance, something else sure to spark debate.

Boyd can’t promise everything will be discussed during the Special Session. Many in the industry pushed for years to all cash value coverage on roof policies, and Boyd, since he proposed reforms in the 2021 Session, has explored such prospects.

But don’t expect that to be settled this week.

“I don’t believe that will be a part of this,” he said. “I presented that as part of my first bill last year, SB 76. It didn’t pass in the House. The Senate passed it. But the Governor wasn’t wild about it back then either.”

Boyd said his priority through the week will be finding a solution that brings about positive change for the residents of Florida.

“Most important it’s about being fair to consumers,” he said. “My goal is for prices to come down so folks can once again afford insurance.”