Fla. Official: Assignment of Benefits Abuse a “Category Five Hurricane”

A Wall Street Journal editorial said a group of Florida Republicans are failing to stop a “man-made litigation flood” by trying to “block insurance reform.”  

At issue is the state legislators’ failure to introduce a measure to stop assignment of benefits lawsuit abuse, which is threatening to increase home insurance premiums 40 percent by 2022 in south Florida. The editorial board said a group of Florida Senate Republicans, led by the chair of the Banking and Insurance Committee who is backed by the Senate president, has let reform measures “languish” while perpetuating a “trial-bar scheme.”

Without reform, the editorial board says, Florida will continue to become a hub for “looting by lawsuit.”