The Florida Chamber of Commerce annual Insurance
Summit, which took place this week, was apparently a rollicking good time. Covering such topics as federal regulation of the industry, disaster coverage, coastal real estate development, cyber security and issues in litigation, the three-day event did not shy away from controversy.
John Fitts, deputy general counsel for
Progressive Insurance Company’s legislative and regulatory affairs department, compared the possibility of the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) getting involved in insurance regulation to an invasive species of fish inundating the Great Lakes.
HUD has made noises of late about applying “disparate impact” theories to the regulation of insurance premiums, in other words considering whether pricing practices have a disparate impact on protected classes of individuals. He said Tuesday (Oct. 27) that such considerations would turn the pricing process “upside down” and create the potential for rampant litigation.
Meanwhile, Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, also speaking Tuesday, ruminated on the fact that roughly 10% fewer people have federal flood insurance today than in 2009, in spite of both population growth and considerable coastal and floodplain development since 2009. He said this not only leaves more people “completely uninsured,” but also spreads ever greater risk among ever fewer people paying premiums.
