Reps. Monique Miller & Danny Alvarez, Jeremy Rodgers-Cyber Security

Government & Cyber Security the latest with Reps. Monique Miller & Danny Alvarez, Jeremy Rodgers-Cyber Security.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
In recent years, homeowners' insurance costs have been a major
focus in Florida. This weekend, they're in focus on the
Florida round Table. I'm Bill Mick. Welcome to this edition
of the Roundtable. Catch up with me and our podcasts
at billmick dot com. What's caused the increased in cost
for insuring our homes and more importantly, what can be
done to bring those costs under control. My home's been

(00:28):
insured by the state run insurance Citizens, and like many
of you, I'm being depopulated from Citizens and into a
new carrier in the state, likely with an increase in cost.
I went to a service minded insurance agent to be
sure I didn't unintentionally foul things up. Joining me to
discuss the issue and solutions. Robert Gordon of the American

(00:50):
Property Casually Insurance Association Insurance costs and solutions coming up
today on the Florida round Table from the Florida News Network.
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Speaker 1 (03:06):
Thanks for joining us this weekend on the Florida round Table,
Bill Mick. And joining me this week is Robert Gordon.
He is with American Property Casualty Insurance Association. Robert, thanks
for taking the time this morning. Let's start off introducing
you what got you into this world, and then we'll
talk about the association some as well.

Speaker 5 (03:24):
Well.

Speaker 6 (03:24):
Great to be with you today, Bill, appreciate the opportunity.
I'm the senior vice president for the Policy Research and
International Division. With APCI, we represent about two thirds of
the palm Ato and Business insurance industry. I got into
it just because it's a great field. The insurance really

(03:45):
is one of the sectors that helps people. So when
people have a disaster, we help them recover. We give
them that helping hand up. So it's a great profession
to be in a great industry.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Tell me what the role is for the association as
you relate with these insurance companies and how they deal
with policyelders.

Speaker 6 (04:03):
Well, a lot of what we do is education, so people,
policy makers, the media, they have lots and lots of questions,
what are the insurance trends?

Speaker 5 (04:13):
Why did my rates go up?

Speaker 6 (04:15):
It housed climate impacting the insurance industry. So a lot
of what we do is just help the policy makers
and media and other stakeholders work through all of these issues.
We also try and find solutions where problems come up.

Speaker 5 (04:29):
So, for example, as.

Speaker 6 (04:32):
The property insurance losses have risen over time, the insurance
industry funds the Institute for Business and Home Safety the IVHS,
and they do this really really really neat work looking
at impact of disasters on property. So they have wind
tunnels that blow down houses. They have fire chambers where

(04:53):
they blow burning embers onto houses to see what makes
them burn. They have roofs that they put under the
sun to see what kind of roof tiles work. And
then we bring that information back to consumers and back
to this policymakers and other housing stakeholders to help them
make better decisions about constructing safer houses that have lower losses.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
That's got to be helpful as far as insurance goes.
You guys are dealing with fifty or more sets of
regulations as the fifty states regulate the industry. That's got
to be a little tough for you to jump through
those hoops all the time.

Speaker 5 (05:32):
Well it is.

Speaker 6 (05:33):
On the other hand, a lot of these disasters are regional,
so the disasters you might see in New York are
going to be very different from those in California. So
I think the state hit system has actually been very
healthy for the industry. It also means there's a real
opportunity to create sort of what I call the regulatory sandbox.

(05:53):
In other words, different states try different ideas. We're seeing
that with mitigation right now, where some of the states
like Alabama have led the nation in adopting fortified homes
that are more wind resistant, and that's been an incredible
success in Alabama, and so now a lot of other
states are copying that program. So the state system, while

(06:13):
it's a little more cumbersome, it does bring an incredibly
robust innovation to the industry.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
I thought the state of Florida might be leading in that,
with all the hurricanes we deal with annually.

Speaker 6 (06:25):
Yeah, Florida actually does a very good job with building codes.
In fact, one of the insurance companies did a study
on the Hurricane Ian that occurred in twenty twenty two,
and they said, well, what would have happened if that
hurricane had occurred without all the building codes.

Speaker 5 (06:41):
Let's say it had hit in the nineteen seventies.

Speaker 6 (06:43):
And what they found is that the hurricane was much
more expensive because of all the economic growth and bigger
buildings since the nineteen seventies, and the climate has gotten
a little more severe, but a lot of that was
offset by the improved buildings, and that saved tens of
billions of dollars when Hurricane Ian.

Speaker 5 (07:02):
It was incredibly effective.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
What I'm reading into this is that the work you're
doing ultimately saves money for your insurance companies, but also
for ultimately for the consumer with trying to put all
this in play.

Speaker 5 (07:15):
That's exactly right.

Speaker 6 (07:17):
It's a win win when we can make safe for
buildings that protects people and reduce losses.

Speaker 5 (07:21):
It's good for consumers, it's good for the industry.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
That's fantastic. We're going to deal with it throughout the
show today. Are there major concerns that you have that
are like top of the list, And I got about
thirty seconds here.

Speaker 5 (07:36):
We have a lot of concerns.

Speaker 6 (07:37):
I think one of the biggest ones is legal system abuse.
So we're just seeing the losses sucking more and more
money out of the system. It's hundreds of billions of
dollars in annual costs. It costs the typical American family
about five thousand, so very very big impact.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
We'll dig into it more as we continue this weekend
on the roundtable. Glad you're with it.

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Speaker 1 (10:06):
Back on the Florida round Table, I'm Bill Mick. Robert
Gordon's with us. He's with the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
We're talking about insurance costs, specifically here in the state
of Florida, and the causes and potential solutions therefore. And Robert,
if we can, let's go into the causes in recent
years of insurance price hikes and then they've gone up significantly.

(10:31):
What have you seen as the main You mentioned the
litigious society we're in and those kind of costs. Fraud
a big part of that. I experienced an attempt at
it myself just a few years ago.

Speaker 5 (10:43):
What kind of fraud did you experience? Bill Love to
hear that?

Speaker 1 (10:47):
I had a quote contractor come to my house doing
roof inspections because he was doing the whole neighborhood. And
when he finished up his inspection and brought the pictures
that he'd taken on his phone into the house and
was showing me those and telling me how the hail
damage had really done a number on my roof. He
hands me this slick flyer, about eight pages on very

(11:10):
high quality paper, and I noticed on the back it's
produced by a law firm in Tampa. And I looked
at him and I said, he said, we'll sue your
insurance company for I said, dude, my insurance company's been
very good to me. I'm not going to sue him
out of the box, and if I have a claim,
I'll deal with them initially. And then when he was gone,
I photographed all the pages and sent it off to

(11:32):
a buddy of mine. I was a drug cop in
real life before I got into radio, and I sent
it off to a buddy i'd worked with who's now
with the National Insurance Crime Bureau and said, hey, Bruce,
you need to take a look at this, because this
guy's bad and we've got a lot of that in Florida.

Speaker 6 (11:45):
Yeah, that is actually the most pervasive fraud in the
insurance industry is this roofing fraud. We actually have videotapes
of contractors going up onto people's roofs to give them
what they say is a free inspection, but then they
actually caused the damage. Yeah, take a picture of the
damage they caused and bring it back. And I lived
in Florida as well, and after major hurricanes, I always

(12:06):
used to get these flyers, we can get you a
free roof and make your insurance company pay for it,
just to sign the benefits to us. Florida's really cracked
down on that. That's been one of the significant savings
in Florida is eliminating that assignment of benefits and cracking
down on roofing fraud. Just going back to your question,
you know, one of the big cost drivers is really

(12:28):
just the economic growth, especially in Florida, has been booming.
And then it's inflation. So we had forty year record inflation.
It's about twenty five percent over the last five years.
But even more than that, the inflation and building materials
and labor has been about forty percent over that same period.

(12:49):
And that's very close to the increase in property insured
losses and property insurance rates. In other words, when you
have more expensive buildings that cost a lot more to repair,
and they're in places like Florida that are subject to
a lot of wind risk, you're going to have more
losses and it's going to cost more to ensure that.
You throw in increasing weather severity. And then the legal

(13:11):
system abuse Florida used to have. Just a few years ago,
it had only about nine percent of the homeowners insurance
claims in the nation, but it had just a staggering
sixty nine percent of the homeowners insurance lawsuits. So just
incredibly abusive legal system drain, and consumers were paying for that,

(13:32):
and the plaintiffs only got a very small percentage of that.
Most of that money went to lawyers and adjusters and
pork costs. So Florida really fixed that and now we're
seeing last year the rates and homeowners insurance rates in
Florida are actually lower than inflation. It was the lowest
increase in the country. And we're seeing continued positive movement
this year. So Florida's really been a big success story

(13:55):
right now.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
So the legislature has been at least somewhat successful with
the measures they took two three years ago to open
up the market, draw some new companies in and then
eliminate some of the legal ramifications, the lawsuits from insurance
companies not paying or these fraudulent claims that are being fought.

Speaker 6 (14:19):
Yeah, the Florida reforms are incredibly successful. We've seen property
litigation down about thirty percent. Citizens the government last market
of last resort for policyholders in Florida, that's been down
nearly half of its current size as people are able
to get private market coverage. We have well over a

(14:41):
dozen new insurers in the market, lowest homeowners rate increase
in the country. Had thirty nine homeowners insurers the other
year fire filing for a rate decrease. So just a
huge success story in Florida.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
I have a situation where I'm being thrown out of
citizens and it was the only policy I could buy
just three short years ago. That's a good sign to me,
even though it probably means a rate increases some type
on the other end.

Speaker 6 (15:11):
That's right, and Citizens have become the largest insurer in
the state of Florida, and that's not healthy for anyone
because it's just a shell game with the risk and
those risks ultimately go back to the voters in Florida.
But now people have a lot more private options, and
a lot of those private coverages are much better than Citizens.
Citizens is not a Cadillac coverage. It's more of a

(15:33):
bare bones coverage. So you're going to get usually better
coverage in the private market, and it shows that the
reforms are working.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
Let me take you to another personal story, because just
two weeks ago I'd gotten my notice and Citizens needed
a confirmation by the sixth of February that here's the
choice I'm going to make come December when my policy
is up. I don't know why they needed in February,
but they did so. I went to an insurance agent,

(16:02):
not my own, not the agent that had written the policy,
because I've tried I'd ask them questions about this through
the last couple of years. They were very non responsive.
So I went to what I believed would be a
reputable agency, and this agent, who was not my agent
at this minute, talk to me for an hour, talk
me through it, help me make the right decision for
what He wasn't my insurance agent yet, but at the

(16:24):
end of that he became my agent of record. And
then I said, look, I would let you quote my
car insurance, but I had a wreck last year and
my company is gigging me. He said, wait a minute,
We've had a pretty big rate increase. He saved me
eight hundred dollars every six months, and he's now my
insurance agent for my homeowners and my auto. There's an
advantage to be had when you deal with an agent

(16:46):
who understand service.

Speaker 5 (16:49):
That's right.

Speaker 6 (16:49):
And actually the number one thing that consumers can do
to reduce their raid is simply shop around. Call up
your agent and say, hey, what kind of coverages can
you get me? Are the ones that have more coverages?
Do I have the right level of insurance? Am I
under insured? And if you're not getting good answers from
your agent, then go and get another one. But that's
the number one thing consumers can do.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
And I just experienced today. You are absolutely right, that's fantastic.
I was thrilled. Trust me biggest factors in driving these
costs up for insurance companies and consumers. I've talked with
state representatives on both the Local Show and the roundtable
here that reinsurance is part of the problem because all

(17:31):
of it is headquartered offshore. Is there anything to help
bring those costs in line to benefit both insurers and
the insured.

Speaker 6 (17:42):
So what's interesting the reinsurance industry, as you say, it's global.
In twenty twenty two, they lost about twelve percent of
their capital, so they took a huge hit.

Speaker 5 (17:51):
That's why the rates went.

Speaker 6 (17:53):
Up after twenty twenty two significantly for the property reinsurance.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
But property insurance rates.

Speaker 6 (17:59):
In twenty twenty five, and we saw the January one
renewal cycles in twenty twenty six actually declined.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
So right now there's more global reinsurance capital out there
than there is demand.

Speaker 6 (18:12):
I think that's a success story about how quickly that
market responds and works, and that's one of the reasons
that I think the Florida market's becoming more stable, stronger,
and fewer people having to go into citizens.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
That's good to hear is there anything that insurance companies
themselves are doing to work on the cost side of this?
What do you advise them as they enter into these markets,
as they see fluctuations and changes coming, How do you
work with them on that.

Speaker 6 (18:42):
We're doing a lot. The number one issue we're working
on is mitigation. As I mentioned, we've got the Institute
for Business and Home Safety that the insurance industry funds.
They come up with new safety standards. We did a
study there. I say, a University of Alabama did a
study when Hurricane Sally hit Alabama a few years ago,
and they found that homes that were built to the

(19:06):
new Building Code standards had roughly seventy percent lower losses
than homes that weren't built to that standard, so incredibly successful.
There are a number of states out there that are
offering various grant programs to help people retrofit their house,
get stormproof shutters, tie down their roofs. There are some
very simple things that consumers can do that save a

(19:30):
lot of money. So mitigation is really job one, and
that's been one of the reasons in Florida the market
hasn't gotten a lot worse is because of the success
of building codes. Now, the problem is there are a
lot of older buildings. So when I went to buy
a house, my wife and I argue, there was one
house built after the building codes became effective in about

(19:50):
nineteen ninety three, and that's the house I wanted, and
she wanted the one by the lake with a beautiful view.

Speaker 5 (19:54):
And you know, we got the house by the lake.

Speaker 6 (19:56):
And now every time there's a hurricane, I have to
hold my breath. I hope I'm not one of the
three little pigs where my house break blows down, but
you know, if it does, then I'll build, certainly going
to build it back to the fortified building standards that
we have now.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
One of the complaints I've heard from consumers is insurance
companies requiring things like a new roof after so many years,
without really considering the condition of the roof. Your roofs
fifteen years old or older. They're saying, if we're going
to ensure you've got to put a new roof on
the place, Is there anything changing in that world right now?

Speaker 5 (20:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (20:30):
This is actually, to me one of the most exciting
areas that the Institute for Business and Home Safety is
working on. They basically have these huge roofing farms where
they have all these sheds with different roofs on them
to test out the different manufacturers. First thing they found
is when they talk about you can buy a ten
year roof or thirty year roof, that's not realistic. Most

(20:52):
of these roofs, they find the tile roofs only last
about ten years. They look fine after ten years, but
basically the ceiling with that much, especially in places like Florida,
the ceialant dries out and those roofs become brittle. So
after ten years your roof just isn't going to be
as strong. But they now have ratings, just like you
can go for a look at cars and the craft

(21:13):
test ratings to see how safe a car is. They
now have ratings for all of these different kinds of roofs,
so you can see which roofing tile is going to
withstand the wind better and lasts longer.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
That's good to hear. Let's go into a quick comparison.
I also hear that metal roops are great for fortifying
your home, but it doesn't really do much to lower
your insurance costs because the replacement costs seems to be
significantly different. Tell me what we're seeing there.

Speaker 6 (21:38):
Yeah, there's always a balance there, and that's why again
I think it's good to talk to your agent if
they don't know about the IBHS standards, find one that does.
But there's a lot of scientific evidence now backing these,
and we see it after the disasters. And again it's
not just a matter of how much your money you're

(21:58):
going to save an insurance.

Speaker 5 (22:00):
It's protecting your family.

Speaker 6 (22:02):
And part of it's not even just the roof, but
making sure the roof is tied into the house in
the right way, making sure you have the stormproof windows
and hurricane resistant shutters, making sure you don't have openings.
You want to make sure all the doors are closed,
and when there's a big hurricane, I make sure to
board up my windows.

Speaker 5 (22:22):
All of those things are important to help.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
No doubt. Back in our back to back to back
storms of four, I was living in what used to
be base housing at Patrick Air Force Base, and those
things build in the fifties or sixties, stick structures that
we stood those storms better than a lot of things elsewhere,
which really surprised me. But the standards are going up,

(22:45):
and that's a good thing. As we continue, we want
to take a look at reforms to help improve coverage
and cost and how to evaluate your needs and risk,
and more as we look at Florida homeowners insurance and
costs today on the Florida round Table.

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Speaker 1 (23:02):
Let's see a turkey sandwich, chips, and oh, fresh from
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Speaker 8 (23:10):
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Speaker 3 (23:12):
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Speaker 1 (26:57):
Alliance Bill mick back with you on The florida Round.
Table of, course you can catch up with me and
our podcasts At bill McK dot. Com so any of
these shows that catch your, attention you can always go
back and pick them up at your. Convenience top of
the page there At bill McK dot. Com Robert gordon's with.

(27:19):
Us he is with The American Property Casualty Insurance, association And,
ROBERT i, appreciate appreciate the information you're sharing with us.
Today best advice for consumers to protect themselves when it
comes to proper coverage and the cost of. Coverage what
should they be looking out?

Speaker 6 (27:37):
For, well, AGAIN i think the most important thing is
find a good agent that you, trust that's something you
found in your. Experience how important that. Is THEN i
think you want to talk to that agent about what's
the right. Deductible the higher the, deductible the more money
you're going to. Save but you also want to make
sure you're not going to be exposed to a catiform

(27:59):
scrut loss that you can't. AFFORD a lot of people
don't know, it but an umbrella policy is really important
as part of your homeowners that essentially covers you if
you get into some sort of a, lawsuit that will
help protect. YOU i think one of the problems In
florida is we see a lot of people are under,
insured particularly because their homes have grown in, value they

(28:23):
cost more to, replace and they haven't updated their. COVERAGES
i think that's really. Important and then, AGAIN i think
the most significant thing you can do to reduce your
rates is to, See, okay what sort of discounts does
the insurance company offer for various mitigation for improving your
roof and your storm shutters and doing all THE ibhs fortified.

(28:44):
Standards and that's a good thing to talk to your
agent or builder insurance company to ask, Them, okay what's
kind of mitigation CAN i do that both protects my
family and reduces my insurance? Rates and sometimes their government
assistance for those that that people can.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
Get, Yeah florida's got a program and they fund it
every year in the legislature and tends to run out
as people take advantage of it and use those ideas
and get those fortifications. Done but there is help out.
There that's a good. Thing speaking of the, state as
we mentioned, earlier the legislature had done some reforms just

(29:21):
a couple of years ago that seemed to be paying,
off at least initially and maybe with big payoff down the.
Road are there other reforms the state needs to look
at that would help the industry and the.

Speaker 6 (29:31):
Consumer, Well florida still has challenges with legal, systema so
it passed some major.

Speaker 5 (29:38):
Reforms those are now taking a.

Speaker 6 (29:40):
HOLD i think that's been the biggest reason That florida
went from having the most expensive homeowners insurance rates in
the country to the last couple of years we've seen
some of the lowest increases of any. State but there's
still further to. Go you, KNOW i just had one
of my family members got into an auto, accident AND

(30:02):
i keep getting all of these notices from lawyers and
they're demanding everything under the, sun and you, know it's
a it's a money. Squeeze you drive Around florida and
these billboards are so. Ubiquitous you see them everywhere saying,
essentially we can help you get. Rich you, know as
you get into an, accident you know the first thing
you should do is call your, lawyer and that's that
doesn't help. Anybody and if you get into an, accident

(30:24):
hopefully the first people you're going to call is the,
police may be an, ambulance and then let your insurance
company know and hopefully they. Can you, know that's their
job is to protect you and get everything. Resolved and
too often people first leap to the, lawyers and that
just costs everybody more.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Money you've talked about dealing with a with an agent
that you trust and believe is working in your. Behalf,
here what's best for a consumer is they evaluate the
needs they have for, insurance whether it's, home, auto whatever
it may, be and the risk that's involved in the various.

Speaker 6 (30:58):
Choices insurance is really product to help you manage your
risk manager. Exposure and so one of the PLACES i
start with really thinking through what kind of losses CAN
i afford to pay on my own and what are
the truly catastrophic LOSSES i need insurance for insurance is less,
efficient as you, know a loss replacement for low level

(31:22):
things just because you typically involves. Claims adjusters looking at
events and a lot of. Processing so you want to
get a deductible that's high enough that it lowers your,
rate but not so high that you're unable to pay the.
Claims and then you really want to, See, okay what
are the Risks i'm most exposed. To flood is a

(31:44):
huge issue In, florida and not enough people have flood.
Insurance that's probably where people are most at risk and
big protection. Gap and it's not just flood coming up
from the rivers and. Lakes it's now what they call flash.
Flooding it's basically some of the storm drainage In florida
just isn't adequate when you have a really intense flash.

(32:06):
FLOODING i have both flooterists from the lake and flash
flooding from the other side of my house by the
storm gutters storm drainage. Backup that's the kind of risk
that you really need to be aware, of talk to
your agent about and make sure you have coverage. For
one last THING i always tell people is it's every
five years or, SO i go and just video of my.

(32:27):
House my son takes a video camera and he takes
a quick video of. Everything you store it off, site
and that way your house blows down or burns down or.
Floods there's a quick. Record you don't need a long inventory.
List if you have a video of, everything that's a
great first.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
Step, yeah that does help a. Lot there is no
doubt given what you guys are doing in property and casualty.
Situations you don't any talk to the health insurance.

Speaker 6 (32:51):
People you, know it's interesting we're such different. Industries insureance
is really based on your. Risks so the insurance companies
they look to see what your fire, risk your flood,
risk your wind, risk you, know based on where you
live can have an. Impact health insurance really aren't allowed

(33:15):
to have so many underwriting. Variables they'll look at things
like age and do you, smoke but those things they're
closed off. From although, frankly what we've seen is the
homeowners insurance property insurance has.

Speaker 5 (33:29):
Not been at all.

Speaker 6 (33:29):
Profitable you, know people, think, oh big insurance, companies but,
actually over the last, decade the return on equity for
the homeowners insurance industry has only been about four percent,
annually and that compares to about fifteen percent for the
broader commercial.

Speaker 5 (33:44):
Sector And i've.

Speaker 6 (33:46):
Gone back to look at as far as we have,
records which is forty something, years and the return on
equity has only been about two. Percent so it's been
a pretty lousy, business, frankly especially it's been tough In
florida with all of these big hurricanes we.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
Have, YEAH i don't doubt that a. Bit let's shift
gears to auto for just a, minute And i've moved To.
Florida in nineteen ninety, eight one of the biggest causes
of the cost of auto insurance were staged accidents where
people were just doing, that particularly In South, florida and
then the lawsuits coming as soon as it. Happened what's

(34:19):
driving insurance? Cost? Auto WHAT i was really surprised WHEN
i got the REDUCTION i got just a couple of
weeks ago WHEN i switched auto insurance.

Speaker 17 (34:27):
Company.

Speaker 6 (34:28):
Yeah, yeah And i'll SAY i actually one of the
big frauds we're seeing on the auto site is cars
that will suddenly stop in front of, you intentionally causing an,
accident or maybe they'll actually back up into you and
cause an. Accident so we're seeing a definite challenge with

(34:49):
those auto fraud that.

Speaker 5 (34:50):
Race as everybody's.

Speaker 6 (34:51):
Rates a lot of states Like, Florida New york recently
trying to really step up the response against. Fraud the
cost the primary, cost though it's similar to the. Housing for,
housing it's it's the increased inflation and building materials in.
Labor for, cars after the, pandemic there was a huge
spike in the cost of new and used, cars and

(35:12):
anyone shopping for a car certainly experienced, that and that's
that's what makes the auto insurance so much more expensive
for a couple of. Years the reason it's come down
now is because of those legal. Reforms so once those
got passed In, florida we actually saw a lot of
rate reductions in the auto insurance. Industry even though one
of my family members was in an auto, accident our

(35:35):
auto insurance actually rate decrease. Slightly so that's that's another big.
Change last, year the top five auto insurers had an
average of a six point five percent rate. Reduction, again
that's that's just purely the legal system abuse reforms That florida.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
Adopted that's interesting to see that occurred that. Way various
types of coverage in auto, insurance whether it's under insure
or under uninsured, motorists and choices that the consumer will
make when it comes to those. Things do you have
a general package of advice for a consumer as they
look at these?

Speaker 6 (36:09):
Things, AGAIN i think it's always a tradeoff between what
you can afford and what you're trying to. Protect But
i'll just tell you when you think about some of those,
coverages you, know is my life more than one hundred thousand?
Dollars DO i have one hundred thousand dollars in? Assets
and if the answer, is you want to make sure

(36:30):
you have more, protection if you can afford, it you
should get. It don't just go in and say give
me the, minimum what's the cheapest INSURANCE i can? Get
you want to work with a company that provides you
with good service and good, coverage and you want to
make sure that your assets are appropriately. Protected and that's
again another good thing to talk to your agent about
or talk to the company, about is making sure that

(36:52):
you really do protect yourself and your. Assets, otherwise, nowadays
with medical costs going through the roof and bodily injury
rates severity, increasing a lot of people just don't have enough.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
Coverage, yeah and we hear discussions all the time about
somebody in an accident with somebody who was not insured
and where we stand In florida on that. Front do
we have any statistics there at.

Speaker 5 (37:18):
ALL i haven't seen the latest.

Speaker 6 (37:21):
Ones florida certainly did have a problem for a while
with the number of uninsured, motorists people who sometimes don't
even have a driver's license they're driving.

Speaker 5 (37:31):
Around.

Speaker 6 (37:33):
NOW i think that may be changing with some of
the changes in immigration and so, forth but it continues
to be a, problem and a lot of people only
focus on the uninsured side, again people who drive without,
insurance which is.

Speaker 5 (37:48):
Illegal but there's also the under.

Speaker 6 (37:51):
Insurance so, again a lot of people will buy the
minimum coverage and you want more protection for.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
Yourself and we're back With Robert gordon In moments on
the Round.

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Speaker 1 (39:57):
Seven Robert gordon is with The American Property Casualty Insurance. Association,
robert we were talking about automobile insurance and underinsured or
uninsured motors, coverage thinking about what's best for the. Consumers

(40:18):
they consider what they're doing, here And i'll let you go. Ahead.

Speaker 6 (40:22):
Yeah so WHEN i moved down To, florida one of
the things that surprised me is how MANY nascar drivers
there are around, here one of, them ninety, five every
one of them.

Speaker 5 (40:31):
Exactly everybody speeds so much down.

Speaker 6 (40:33):
Here you, KNOW i think the auto insurance industry was
hopeful with all these new safety gadgets on the, cars you,
know the smart, technology we'd have much safer. Roads, unfortunately
in the contest between smart technology and dumb drivers right,
now the dumb drivers are winning out a little. Bit
so all the people, speeding, driving distracted, driving drug just

(40:57):
just a huge. Problem, People please don't do. That be
safe out. There all the smart technology in the world
and your car is not going to help you if
you're speeding around with your eyes on the. Phone and
we actually we've seen vendors who track how people. Are
drivers are using their, iPhones and people are watching, movies you,
know they're watching YouTube videos and movies and so. Forth

(41:18):
it's just crazy out. There we need a lot more auto.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Safety you mentioned something that has my, attention the new
technology in. Vehicles i've got a friend who's got a
high END suv and if she's in a left turn
lane crossing and say of a two lane road on
the other, side so it's a four lane. Highway she's
in a turn lane turning, left that censor for a
vehicle off of your left. Fender we'll pick up the

(41:43):
car that passed her as she starts to make a
turn across that highway and we'll stop her in the.
MIDDLE i don't trust the technology. Fully are you guys
interacting with those automakers and stuff about those types of.

Speaker 6 (41:56):
Technologies we are just like we have The institute For
business And Home safety that does building, standards we have
The institute For Highway safety that does car, safety and
so we.

Speaker 5 (42:08):
Are strong proponents of, smarter safer.

Speaker 6 (42:11):
Technology the problem, is for, example we saw with some
of the anti lock, breaks people now, think, well now
that my car stops more, QUICKLY i can tailgate, CLOSER i.

Speaker 5 (42:23):
Can drive faster and tailgates.

Speaker 6 (42:24):
Slower so again that's that contest between the smart, driver
smart technology and the dumb. Drivers but we're seeing definite
improvements from all the car safety. Technology you, know started
a long time ago with the fight over seat, belts
just trying to get people belted in to save, lives
and you, know now we're seeing the lane change warnings

(42:45):
and anti lock breaks and everything. Else it's making a big.
Difference we got to protect people out.

Speaker 1 (42:50):
THERE i was a street cop when anti lock brakes
came in to. Existence they were only On mercedes initially
in the air in the, country AND i was taken
a class from The institute For Police technology And management
out of The university Of North florida In. Jacksonville they'd
come To West virginia teaching a bunch of us he'll
billy cops how to investigate. Accidents and they had tried

(43:10):
to test the anti lock breake vehicles for speed testing
and the like and, accidents skid marks and all of,
that and the Local mercedes dealership would loan them one
to let them do these kind of. Tests except when
this technology was, new they hadn't had one that they'd
sold that had not been hit in the rear end
because nobody else had the. Technology that's, right and.

Speaker 6 (43:33):
We're seeing that with some of the more automated. Vehicles
they don't act just like the humans, do and so
their behavior is different than you would, expect and that
can cost some. Confusion i'll tell you what's fascinating to me.
THOUGH i have kids who just got their boy and
a girl who just got their drivers. Permit and it
was pretty cheap to put them on my insurance with

(43:55):
a permit because they can only drive When i'm in
the car with. Them incredibly expensive when they're driving with adult. Supervision,
yeah what that tells you is human drivers are pretty
good when they're paying attention and they're not on their,
iPhones and they're not driving distracted or drunk or. Drugged
but so many people drive while they're, texting or drive

(44:18):
while they're watching, something or drive under the.

Speaker 5 (44:20):
Influence and you, know that's really a.

Speaker 6 (44:23):
Problem and, again you can have all sorts of safe,
technology but if you're on your, iPhone you're not going
to be able to respond fast enough in an accident to.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
Help speaking of all that, technology we're entering an era
of self driving. Cars we have them being Tested, Miami, Tampa. Orlando,
now have you guys talked about the liability angle for
when a self driving car has an accident because they're having,
them who's WHO'S i, mean IF i own, one is
it still on? Me or do we go back to the?

Speaker 5 (44:52):
Manufacturer, yeah that is a great, question and it's not results.

Speaker 6 (44:57):
Yet in, fact there's a legislation currently going through at
the federal level In.

Speaker 5 (45:01):
Congress you, know to what.

Speaker 6 (45:03):
Extent is that the driver's, responsibility to what extent is
at the, manufacturer the, dealer who's responsible for a self driving.
CAR i think that's something that's going to have to
get worked out over. Time the most important thing is
to make sure that somebody is responsible so that there
is protection when there's an, accident so people can be made.
Whole but there are a lot of questions that will

(45:25):
have to get worked out with the automated.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
Vehicles it sounds the. Way did a story on my
local show just last week about the driver assist person
for those self driving, cars and we come to find
out many of them are in The philippines and that
caused us some concern and. Consternation we're back to wrap
up our discussion on insurance costs and solutions in just

(45:49):
moments here on The Florida News. Network nice to have
you with us this weekend on the round.

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Association wrapping up the roundtable this weekend With Robert gordon
from The American Property Casualty Insurance. Association, ROBERT i guess
to wrap this up this, week give me your. Understanding
are your perspective on the state of insurance casualty insurance

(49:17):
property casually insurance in the state Of. Florida how are we? Now?

Speaker 6 (49:22):
WELL i think for the first time in a long,
time we're actually optimistic about how the markets evolving In.
Florida florida had the highest worst homeowners insurance. Rates auto
rates were also very, High but when the legislature actually
adopted building, codes adopted legal system abuse, reforms we're now

(49:44):
seeing either rate declines or essentially below inflation rate, Increases
and it's really stabilized The florida.

Speaker 5 (49:52):
Marketplace the reforms are.

Speaker 6 (49:54):
Working people are building better, homes they're having safer, cars
and the insurance rates are improving. Now, historically whenever we've adopted,
reforms the trial, lawyers the plainef's attorneys seemed to find
a way around them over. Time so the legislature has
to be vigilant not to backtrack on those. Reforms but,

(50:16):
again we're Seeing florida going from being the worst in
the nation with the highest rates to having the lowest,
rate increases in the, nation and declines on some of
the auto.

Speaker 5 (50:26):
Insurance so it's a great success.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
STORY i have a friend who is serving in The
florida legislature who told me it's not right versus Left
republicans Versus democrats In. Tallahassee it's the insurance lobby versus
the trial lawyer's. Lobby it seemed to be that's where
the fight.

Speaker 5 (50:42):
Goes, yeah but it really needs to be the broader.

Speaker 6 (50:47):
Community you, know people go to the grocery store AND i,
complain why are grocery prices so? HIGHER i took my
family out to brunch just the other day and it
was seventy dollars just for four people for.

Speaker 5 (51:00):
Breakfast would be easy to do. That, Yeah, Yeah and
a lot of that's because of the legal system of.

Speaker 6 (51:05):
Use it's not just the insurance, companies but the commercial
auto insurance rates delivering groceries to the grocery, store delivering,
food those are going up through the roofs that all
of those small, businesses, restaurants their liability insurance rates are growing. Up,
sure that's what's unsustainable in the current system is how

(51:26):
much the legal system is stealing away from those, businesses
from the grocery, stores from the. Restaurants and we still
have to continue getting a handle on that if we
want to make it a great place to live.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
Here, robert let me close the show with this one.
Question with citizens depopulating their policies AND i being one
of those people going, there how does the consumer best
evaluate these new companies that are opening In. FLORIDA a
lot of them are new companies we don't know anything.
About they're going to come in with a. Rating but

(52:00):
what do you suggest the consumer look at as they
consider that insurance?

Speaker 6 (52:04):
Company, YEAH i think that goes back to working with an.
Agent so WHEN i first moved down To, FLORIDA i
tried to shop around, myself and THEN i.

Speaker 5 (52:11):
Got frustrated after a.

Speaker 6 (52:12):
While it's just there's even as an, expert there's so
many things to know and understanding the local. Company SO
i found myself a really good agent THAT i, trusted
and he helped me sort through the different. Companies you,
know a lot of the smaller, companies they're backed by
some of those big global reinsurance, Companies so just because
you're small doesn't necessarily mean you're. Risky BUT i did

(52:35):
a little online research as well make sure that the
companies THAT i used are, solvent and again worked with
an agent to make SURE i had the right. Protection
so there's some good agents out there who can help.

Speaker 1 (52:46):
You do you believe the states standards are adequate for
the companies they're allowing to open or to come into.

Speaker 6 (52:52):
Here, YEAH i think The Florida office Of Insurance regulation
they've they've done a very good job the solvency STANDARDS
hi and there's also there's a guarantee fund in every.
State so, basically if you're an auto get into an
auto accident in your.

Speaker 1 (53:08):
We're gonna have to do this again because we are
sadly out of. Time Robert, Gordon thank, YOU i appreciate.
It we'll see you next weekend on The.

Speaker 21 (53:15):
Roundtable you've been listening to The Florida roundtable With bill
may on news And public affairs presentation of The Florida News.
Network the views and opinions expressed during this programmer those
of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views
of this, station, management, owners or. Sponsors for questions or,

(53:37):
concerns Contact Florida roundtable at fnnonline dot.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
Net