State-run insurer for businesses now
open
By TOM ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer
Published August 19, 2006
The state-run insurer for
businesses that can't find property coverage in the marketplace just went from
temporary to permanent.
Although the commercial joint
underwriting association, or JUA, was already up and running and could have
continued until November, regulators said Friday that a state law was triggered
that formally created the organization.
The trigger for the JUA: a minimum
of 100 applications within a three-month period and an inability to find
private-market coverage for at least 80 percent of those applicants.
Out of the 100-plus applications
the state received by Friday, only 11 percent received even tentative quotes.
Through the new organization, the
state will back the policies written by private insurers by providing
reinsurance (or an extra layer of insurance bought by insurers) much like the
Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund already does for homeowners insurance. If
there's a catastrophe, the state could borrow money to pay claims and assess
business property owners later to pay off those debts.
Though the deal will make
commercial insurance available, it's not expected to keep the lid on rising
insurance rates.
The first public meeting of the
JUA's 13-member board of governors will be Friday in Tallahassee. At the
meeting, board members are expected to decide on rates and forms, and discuss
ways to make more coverage available quickly. A copy of the agenda can be found
at www.floir.com.
Board members, selected by Chief
Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, had not been named as of Friday.
Tom Zucco can be reached at zucco@sptimes.com
or (727) 893-8247.
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