Advocacy

Hurricane Dorian is now expected to hit Florida even harder than previously thought, prompting a widened state of emergency. The storm is on track to make landfall early Monday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane — it could be the strongest direct hit to Florida’s east coast since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 . Due to the uncertainty of landfall, Governor DeSantis has expanded his previous emergency declaration to include all 67 Florida counties.

It is slated to be a very wet storm with the potential for huge water losses.  Even without such an event, over 50% of an average agency’s property losses are due to water.  For some carriers water losses can approach 60% of their residential property claims count.

Keep in mind, resources for every vendor and carrier will likely be exceeded, creating delays, confusion and all of the usual challenges stemming from a Hurricane. It’s impossible to adjust or remediate claims when personnel cannot get to Florida or to the site of a loss.  Patience in the face of immense challenge is always a virtue. Things will get hectic in the coming days for agents as well.

For all these reasons it’s appropriate to reiterate that Johnson Strategies recommends Rytech to agents as a firm focused on satisfying both your clients and your carriers. [Read more…]

Despite its previous decision to review the case, on Monday July 29^th  Florida’s Supreme Court  reversed itself, announcing it would NOT answer the question of whether insurers could use policy language that required approval of AOB’s by “All Named Insureds.”   [Read more…]

The ink from Governor DeSantis’s signature on HB-7065 wasn’t even dry when some of Florida’s worst trial lawyers began perverting reform benefits into billable hours.

Two days after the Legislature adopted HB-7065 (April 24), Harvey Cohen, the self-described “Johnny Appleseed of AOB”,   posted a YouTube video imploring his unscrupulous minions to quickly send him all their AOB cases. This, in an apparent attempt to squeeze in more suits before July 1, the effective date of the new law. [Read more…]

Google “fronting organizations” and you’ll find a variety of definitions and examples.

Wiktionary says a fronting organization is one that “…secretly acts as the public face of a covert group.”  Wikipedia says it’s “…any entity set up by and controlled by another organization”.  Examples are intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, banned organizations, religious groups, political groups,  corporations, and… “advocacy groups”. [Read more…]

Pssst… abuse of Assignment of Benefits is about insurance rates!

Sure, hundreds of lives are upset by scammers twisting the original intent of AOB.  And yes, this generates exponential increases in litigation. And sure, if you insist…it’s because some roofers, public adjusters, water firms, plumbers and attorneys are simply greedy, but…

…AOB is mostly about the gargantuan premiums we will all be paying if trial lawyers in the legislature continue to roadblock reforms. (See The Politics of AOB) [Read more…]

Those looking to understand the politics of AOB need look no further than the next two words: ATTORNEY FEES!

At its core, Assignment of Benefits is a scheme birthed by one law firm and materially employed by roughly two dozen others—solely to stuff their pockets via a perversion of Florida’s well intended “one-way” attorney fee statute fs. 627.428. (fs. 626.9373 for the non-admitted market). [Read more…]

A personal note: for those thinking I don’t like public adjusters, don’t even go there. It’s neither relevant or true.  I have friends who are public adjusters. They are honest, hardworking professionals. They agree with me on this.  As do many I do not know. [Read more…]

Several months ago I called a plumber to my home. The supply line behind the master bathroom toilet was leaking and needed immediate attention.

This plumbing firm was well known to me. Its’ technicians had previously installed a tankless gas water heater (that has worked flawlessly for 10 years) and even replumbed an entire residence I rented to tenants.  You may remember my July 2014 blog about this plumbers excellent work repairing a leak beneath my garage slab.  Read the blog I wrote here.  And, see pictures on my Facebook page here.

In fact, after posting the blog and pictures I was contacted by local insurance agents asking for the plumbers’ name, which I gladly provided. They wanted to recommend the firm to their clients. Or, more wisely perhaps, just put the firms name on a list of plumbers and water remediators to give to clients in need of assistance.

Anyway, after my trusted plumber plugged this most recent leak, which had been going on for some time creating a moisture problem behind the walls and on the floor in an adjoining bedroom, it was obvious a complete dry out was needed.  So… I did exactly what I advise everyone else to do when they have a moisture problem… I called Rytech.

[Read more…]

A handful of trial lawyers serving in Florida’s Senate blocked any reform of Assignment of Benefits (AOB) this year.  In fact,  fearing it would pass, they didn’t even allow debate on a compromise House version overwhelmingly adopted each of the last two years—this year 82-20. [Read more…]