November 19, 2006
Floridians: Finally Awake
--By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer
You cannot suffer in silence forever can you? Well, I always wondered how these Floridians managed to accept the frequent hikes in their homeowners’ insurance rates. Sure, there were murmurs of discontent, and a little noise here and there. But now, I guess things have finally come to a head.
Recently, around 100 residents and real estate agents took to the streets of Merritt Island. The sharply rising residential and commercial property insurance bills forced them to demonstrate for state insurance reforms. Our group of demonstrators then met state Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, who, to put it briefly, wasn’t too positive about the immediate future. According to him, meaningful financial relief for consumers may well be an uphill battle.
And the government too seems to be intent on proving this prediction true. The Florida Property and Casualty Insurance Reform Committee -- created by Gov. Jeb Bush -- is being seen as too little, too late. Quite a few people have criticized the plan for not going far enough. The Bush committee has not recommended anything that would directly reduce premiums without decreasing coverage or requiring policyholders to spend money to fortify their homes against storms.
And some of our demonstrators are also calling for an investigation of the insurance industry. If you ask me, this was something I’d have proposed long ago. There does seem to be an unholy nexus somewhere – we just gotta find out where and what it is. Probably we should take the demonstrators’ suggestion and hold our politicians accountable for this problem. We must especially target those who may have accepted money from the industry.
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