Florida Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the state’s property insurance bill that would have expedited rate filings for property-casualty insurers, saying it was not in consumers’ best interests.

Charlie Crist

The 2010 Florida General Assembly passed the measure, SB 2044, which drew the support of Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and insurance trade groups.

In a veto memo, Crist said the legislation would make it too easy for insurers to increase residential premiums and that mitigation discounts might hurt those who have already improved their homes against hurricanes.

The bill’s sponsors and McCarty  said the bill encourages competition and gave his office tools to ensure that private insurers remain solvent.

The Florida high-risk property insurance market, which experienced about $700 million in losses last year, has been struggling, and the reform bill was designed to make coverage affordable and insurers engaged in the $2 trillion worth or 80% of properties in the state that are vulnerable to storm losses.

William Stander, assistant vice president and regional manager for the Property Casualty Insurers of America (PCI), said in a statement that the group was “disappointed” by the veto of “common-sense solutions” to protect consumers and control costs.

“This legislation would have been a step toward bringing private marketplace solutions to Florida,” Stander said. “Without the bill, we continue to confront the problem of a huge and growing financial risk that Floridians face from the next storm.”

The bill included provisions to make it an unfair and deceptive trade practice for public adjusters to make misleading statements; set caps on public adjusters’ fees; created a website for consumers to shop and buy coverage; and set requirements for properties being repaired so future storms would not cause as much damage.

“While we are disappointed that these provisions did not become law, we recognize that many of us want the same thing: a healthy, stable and competitive insurance market that delivers economic security and peace of mind to consumers. We are all in this together,” Stander said.