Robert Gordon, The American Property & Casualty Insurance Assn.

Florida Insurance costs, causes & tips driving factors for home and auto Robert Gordon, The American Property & Casualty Insurance Assn.

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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.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Joining me to.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Discuss the issue and solutions. Robert Gordon of the American
Property Casually Insurance Association Insurance costs and solutions coming up
today on the Florida round Table from the Florida News Network.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
It's Bill Mick.

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Speaker 1 (03:05):
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.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Robert, thanks for taking the time this morning.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Let's start off introducing you what got you into this world,
and then we'll talk about the association some as well well.

Speaker 5 (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. Insurance really is

(03:46):
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 5 (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? Why did my rates go up?
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.

(04:26):
We also try and find solutions where problems come up. So,
for example, as the property insurance losses have risen over time,
the insurance industry funds the Institute for Business and Home Safety,
the IBHS, and they do this really, really, really neat
work looking at impact of disasters on property. So they

(04:49):
have wind tunnels that blow down houses. They have fire
chambers where they blow burning embers onto houses to see
what makes them burn. They have roofs that they put
under the on 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

(05:10):
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. 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. In other words, different states

(05:54):
try different ideas. We're seeing that with mitigation right now,
where some of the states like Alabama had 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 it's a little more cumbersome,

(06:15):
it does bring an incredibly robust innovation to the industry.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
I thought the state of Florida might be leading in
that with all the hurricanes we deal with annually.

Speaker 5 (06:25):
Yeah, Florida actually does a very good job with the
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.
Let's say it had hit in the nineteen seventies. And
what they found is that the hurricane was much more

(06:46):
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 he 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.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
With trying to put all this in play.

Speaker 5 (07:15):
That's exactly right. It's a win win when we can
make safe for buildings that protects people and reduce losses.
It's good for consumers, it's good for the industry.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
That's fantastic. We're going to deal with it throughout the
show today.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Are there major concerns that you have that are like
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the biggest ones is legal system abuse. So we're just
seeing the laws is sucking more and more money out
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We'll dig into it more as we continue this weekend
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Speaker 1 (10:05):
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.

(10:30):
What have you seen as the main You mentioned the
litigious society we're in and those kind of costs.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
Fraud a big part of that.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
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 (10:46):
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 the 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

(11:09):
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

(11:31):
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 5 (11:44):
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
dam as they caused and bring it back. And I
lived in Florida as well, and after major hurricanes, I

(12:05):
always 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

(12:27):
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.

(12:48):
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

(13:10):
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 homeowner's insurance lawsuits. So just
incredibly abusive legal system drain and consumers we're 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
court 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

(13:54):
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, lawsuits from insurance companies
not paying or these fraudulent claims that are being fought.

Speaker 5 (14:18):
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

(14:40):
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 (14:55):
I have a situation where I'm being thrown out of
Citizens when 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 5 (15:10):
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

(15:32):
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 (15:40):
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,

(16:01):
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

(16:23):
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

(16:45):
who understand service.

Speaker 5 (16:48):
That's right, 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 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

(17:08):
the number one thing consumers can do, and.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
I just experienced it, and you are absolutely right, that's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
I was thrilled. Trust me.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
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 of it is headquartered offshore.
Is there anything to help bring those costs in line
to benefit both insurers and the insured.

Speaker 5 (17:41):
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. That's why
the rates went up after twenty twenty two significantly for
the property reinsurance. But property insurance rates in twenty twenty
five and we saw the January one renewal cycles in

(18:03):
twenty twenty six actually declined. So right now there's more
global reinsurance capital out there than there is demand. 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 2 (18:24):
That's good to hear.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
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.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
How do you work with them on that.

Speaker 5 (18:41):
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 out Alabama a few years ago,
and they found that homes that were built to the

(19:05):
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

(19:29):
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

(19:49):
nineteen ninety three, and that's the house I wanted, and
she wanted the one by the lake with a beautiful view.
And you know, we got the house by the lake.
And now every time there's a hurricane, I have to
hold my breath and you know, 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

(20:09):
that we have now.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
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.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
You're roofs fifteen years old or older.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
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 (20:29):
Yeah? 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.

(20:51):
Most 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 sun, especially in
place is 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

(21:11):
and the craft 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 2 (21:23):
That's good to hear. Let's go into a quick comparison.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
I also hear that metal roopes 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.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Tell me what we're seeing there.

Speaker 5 (21:37):
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

(21:57):
going to save in insurance. It's protect in your family.
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

(22:20):
board up my windows. All of those things are important
to help.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
No doubt.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
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 withstood those storms
better than a lot of things elsewhere, which really surprised.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
Me, but the standards are going up and that's a
good thing.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
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
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(27:04):
the Florida.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
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 us he is With The American Property Casualty, insurance Association,
AND robert, i appreciate appreciate the information you're sharing with.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
Us today.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
Best advice for consumers to protect themselves when it comes
to proper coverage and the cost. Of coverage what should
they be looking?

Speaker 5 (27:37):
Out, 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

(27:58):
catiform straphic 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

(28:22):
they 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.

(28:43):
Fortified 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.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
People, 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.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
Out there that's a.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
Good thing speaking of, the state as we, mentioned earlier
the legislature had done some reforms just a couple of
years ago that seemed to be, paying off at least
initially and maybe with big payoff down.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
The road are there other reforms.

Speaker 1 (29:27):
The state needs to look at that would help the
industry and.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
The, Consumer.

Speaker 5 (29:33):
Well florida still has challenges with, legal systema so it
passed some. Major reforms those are now taking. A 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.

(29:55):
To go, YOU know i just had one of my
family members it got into an, auto ACCIDENT and i
keep getting all of these notices from lawyers and they're
demanding everything under, the sun and you, know it 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,

(30:18):
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 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.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
More money you've talked about dealing with a with an
agent that you trust and believe is working in.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
Your, behalf here.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
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.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Various choices.

Speaker 5 (31:00):
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,
you know a loss replacement for low level things just

(31:22):
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 huge Issue,

(31:44):
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 flooding i

(32:06):
have both floodsts 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 house my

(32:27):
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.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
First, step yeah that does help.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
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.

Speaker 5 (32:50):
Insurance people, you know it's interesting we're such. Different industries
insurance 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

(33:10):
you live can have. An impact health insurance really aren't
allowed 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 not been at. All profitable,
you know, people, think oh big, insurance companies, but actually

(33:33):
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 Sector and i've 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

(33:54):
it's been Tough in florida with all of these big hurricanes.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
We, HAVE yeah i don't doubt that.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
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 driving insurance? Cost AUTO what

(34:21):
i was really SURPRISED when i got THE reduction i
got just a couple of weeks AGO when i switched auto.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
Insurance.

Speaker 5 (34:26):
Company, 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

(34:48):
with those auto fraud that races. EVERYBODY'S rates a lot
of States, Like Florida new york recently trying to really
step up the response against Fraud cost the primary cost
driver though 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

(35:10):
of new and, used cars and 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

(35:32):
in an, auto accident our 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.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
Florida adopted that's interesting to see that occurred.

Speaker 5 (35:52):
That way.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
Various types of coverage in, auto insurance whether it's under
insured 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.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
These, THINGS.

Speaker 5 (36:10):
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
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 you have,
more protection if you can, afford it you should. Get

(36:31):
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 you really

(36:52):
do protect yourself and. Your, assets, otherwise nowadays with medical
costs going through the roof and bodily injury rate, severity
increasing a lot of people just don't have.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
Enough, 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.

Speaker 5 (37:17):
AT all i haven't seen the. Latest 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. AROUND now i think that may be
changing with some of the changes in immigration and, so

(37:38):
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 illegal but there's
also the. Under insurance, so again a lot of people
will buy the minimum coverage and you want more protection.
For yourself and.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
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Speaker 1 (39:56):
Dot Com 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.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
The consumers they consider what they're doing Here and i'll
let you.

Speaker 5 (40:19):
Go. Ahead yeah SO when i moved Down, to florida
one of the things that surprised me is HOW many
nascar drivers there are, around here and one.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
Of them, ninety five every one of.

Speaker 5 (40:30):
Them exactly everybody speeds so much. Down here, YOU know
i think that 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,

(40:52):
speeding driving, distracted driving drug just 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

(41:15):
YouTube videos and movies and. So forth it's just crazy.
Out there we need a lot more.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
Auto safety you mentioned something that has, my attention the
new technology.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
In vehicles i've got a friend who's got a HIGH end.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
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 car that
passed her as she starts to make a turn across
that highway and we'll stop her in. THE middle i

(41:48):
don't trust the. Technology fully are you guys interacting with
those automakers and stuff about those types.

Speaker 5 (41:55):
Of technologies we are just 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 are strong proponents, of smarter. Safer
technology the, problem is, for example we saw with some
of the anti, lock breaks people, now, think well now

(42:18):
that my car stops, MORE quickly i can, TAILGATE closer
i can drive faster and. Tailgates 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

(42:39):
belted in to. Save lives and, you know now we're
seeing the lane change warnings and anti lock breaks and.
Everything else it's making a. Big difference we got to
protect people.

Speaker 1 (42:49):
OUT there i was a street cop when anti lock
breaks came. Into existence they were Only on mercedes initially
in the air in, the COUNTRY and i was taken
a class From the Institute For Play these Technology and
management out Of the University Of north Florida. And jacksonville
they'd Come To west virginia teaching a bunch of Us
he'll billy cops how to. Investigate accidents and they had
tried to test the anti lock breake vehicles for speed

(43:12):
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.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
The technology, that's right.

Speaker 5 (43:32):
And 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 it's incredibly 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

(44:17):
drive while they're, watching something or drive under. The influence and,
you know that's that's really. A 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.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
To 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?

Speaker 2 (44:51):
The, manufacturer yeah that is a, great question and it's not.

Speaker 5 (44:56):
Results yet, in fact there's a legislation currently going through
with the federal Level, in congress, you know to what
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

(45:16):
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 have to get worked out with the. Automated vehicles
it sounds.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
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.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
And consternation we're.

Speaker 1 (45:43):
Back to wrap up our discussion on insurance costs and
solutions in just moments here On The Florida. News network
nice to have you with us this weekend on The.

Speaker 17 (45:52):
Round table, hi everyone if you've been injured in an
accident that was not, your fault. Listen up we have
legal professionals standing by to answer your questions. For free
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Speaker 6 (46:21):
Right, Now, well maria, first off thank you for having.
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Speaker 1 (48:57):
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 property
casualty insurance in the State.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
Of florida how are, We, NOW.

Speaker 5 (49:18):
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 seeing

(49:42):
either rate declines or essentially below inflation rate increases and
it's really Stabilized the. Florida marketplace the reforms. Are working
people are building, better homes they're having, safer cars and
the insurance rates are. Improving, now historically whenever we've, adopted

(50:02):
reforms the, trial lawyers the plaintiff attorneys seemed to find
a way around them, over time so the legislature has
to be vigilant not to backtrack on. Those reforms, but
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.

(50:22):
Auto insurance so it's a it's a great.

Speaker 1 (50:24):
SUCCESS 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.

Speaker 5 (50:39):
Fight, goes yeah but it really needs to be the.
Broader community, you know people go to the grocery STORE and,
i complain, you know why are grocery prices? SO higher
i took my family out to brunch just the other
day and it was it was seventy dollars just for
four people. For breakfast would be easy to, do, That,
Yeah yeah and a lot of that's because of the

(51:01):
legal system. Of 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 much the legal system is

(51:25):
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.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
Live, here robert let me close the show with this.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
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 what do you suggest the consumer look at as

(51:58):
they consider that?

Speaker 5 (51:59):
Insurance, 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 got
frustrated after. A while it's just there's some 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,

(52:22):
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 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 there's some good agents out there who can.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
Help you do you believe the state standards are are
adequate for the companies they're allowing to open or to come.

Speaker 5 (52:49):
Into, HERE yeah i Think The florida Office Of insurance
regulation they've they've done a very. Good job the solvency standards,
are high and there's also there's a guarantee fund and.
The state, so basically if you're an auto get into
an auto accident in your we're going to have to
do this again because we are sadly out.

Speaker 1 (53:07):
Of Time, robert gordon, THANK you i. Appreciate it we'll
see you next weekend On.

Speaker 2 (53:11):
The roundtable.

Speaker 21 (53:15):
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 Concerns Contact florida

(53:35):
roundtable at fnnonline.

Speaker 2 (53:37):
Dot net