'Own this failure': Florida Democrats blame GOP colleagues over Farmers Insurance departure

Prominent voices in the Florida Democratic Party issued a scathing rebuke of their Republican counterparts a day after Farmers Insurance announced it was pulling a third of its business out of Florida.

Leaders say the departure of the California-based insurance provider is evidence that the wide-ranging measures passed during two special sessions and the most recent regular session didn’t do enough to address the state’s property insurance crisis.

“They need to own this failure,” said Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa during a virtual press conference Wednesday morning. “They have been in charge of the Florida House, the Florida Senate and the governor’s mansion all this time and they have kicked the can too far down the road.”

More: Citizens wants its rates to go up by double digits. Will insurance regulators agree?

Joined by Orlando State Rep. Anna Eskamani, Dania Beach State Rep. Hillary Cassel and party chair Nikki Fried, Driskell reamed the opposing party for playing “whack-a-mole” with solutions to keep property insurers in the state, suggesting that their actions won’t have an impact.

“Trickle-down economics doesn’t work, and neither does trickle-down property insurance relief,” Driskell said.

Among the measures passed included eliminating one-way attorneys fees, preventing third parties such as contractors and roofers from being paid directly by the insurance company, limiting consumers' access to the courts and a $3 billion infusion for reinsurance relief that Driskell called a "bailout."

Democrats said they attempted to pass their own measures to address the crisis — such as requiring the insurance commissioner be elected rather than appointed and budget items to help fortify coastal communities — but none of them passed.

More: Florida lawmakers eye expanding property insurance reforms to all types of insurance

Cassell: Clearly, Republicans were wrong

“Why are the reforms that have passed not enough for Farmers to be willing to stay?” Cassel said. “We have heard time and time and time again from the Republicans that these were the reforms that were necessary to bring back a vibrant, competitive insurance marketplace. But clearly, they’re wrong.”

For months, industry experts have pointed to “frivolous lawsuits” as a leading cause of insurance companies leaving Florida or being declared insolvent. But, after taking Republicans’ word for each measure to solve issues in the market, Democrats aren’t so sure.

“If lawsuits are the reason (for the crisis), why didn’t Farmers cite that as one of the reasons for leaving this market?” said Driskell, who voted for some of the property insurance measures along with other Democrat colleagues.

Farmers Insurance said Tuesday that it would discontinue “Farmers-branded” home, auto and umbrella policies, including new and existing business, saying the move was “necessary to effectively manage risk exposure.” The decision affects 30% of the business the company conducts in the state, or roughly 100,000 policies.

The measures that lawmakers passed would "take time to take effect," said State House Speaker Paul Renner of Palm Coast, who rejected the insinuation that Farmers' decision had anything to do with them.

"We understand the unfortunate decision to withdraw from the state was not based on the impacts of bipartisan reforms in recent years taken by the Legislature or the future of the state's insurance market, but the company's financials," Renner wrote in a tweet.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in a statement issued late Tuesday that lawmakers’ actions since May 2022 had resulted in $600 million in savings to state-backed Citizens Insurance and that “the type of litigation that raises rates is already down 43% since last year.”

“The Legislature did impactful work to help stabilize the market, and (Farmers Insurance's) actions are less a representation of the Florida market and more of bad leadership at the insurer,” he wrote.

Wanting “additional scrutiny on the company," Patronis told the Division of Consumer Services to look into complaints against the company that could lead to an investigation and fines, and predicted the company might be brought in front of lawmakers during the next session. But, he added, "there is still time for Farmers to change course."

Jimmy Patronis: Farmers 'on its way to becoming the Bud Light of insurance'

Patronis claimed the company was "bad at helping people" and "good at virtue signaling" because it had said it would consider environmental, social and governance in its business practices. ESG (environmental, social and governance) — which can include consideration of climate or social justice issues — has become such a political flashpoint that Gov. Ron DeSantis in May signed a bill that prevented state officials from investing money that promotes ESG goals.

“Farmers Insurance is well on its way to becoming the Bud Light of insurance,” Patronis said, referring to the conservative backlash the beer company received for a marketing campaign video that featured a transgender influencer.

Eskamani chided Patronis and her GOP colleagues for focusing on “culture wars” during the legislative session rather than issues she hears about from her constituents, namely property insurance, rising rents and the high cost of living. Some of her constituents have never filed a claim and always paid the property insurance premium on time, but are still being dropped by their providers, she said.

“Threatening an insurance company is not a good way to attract more insurance companies to Florida, which is what we need right now,” Eskamani said.

Hannah Morse covers consumer issues for The Palm Beach Post. Drop a line at hmorse@pbpost.com, call 561-820-4833 or follow her on Twitter @mannahhorse.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Democrats blame GOP colleagues over Farmers Insurance departure