The agenda for the first Citizens Mission Review Task Force meeting this Friday is as follows: Tampa Airport Marriott, Tampa International Airport, Tampa, FL Friday, October 10, 2008 Meeting: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Conference Call Dial-in: 1-866-855-4989
Opening Remarks Scott Wallace – CEO, President & Executive Director – Citizens Representative Alan Hays Election of Chair and Vice Chair Susanne Murphy – Executive Vice President of Corporate Operations – Citizens
1. Sunshine Law Overview Perry Cone – Senior Vice‐President and General Counsel – Citizens 2. Citizens Overview Susanne Murphy – ExecutiveVice President of Corporate Operations ‐ Citizens 3. Reinsurance in the Florida Market Private Reinsurance Kevin Campion, Benfield Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Jack Nicholson, Senior FHCF Officer 4. Citizens Financial Overview Sharon Binnun, Chief Financial Officer – Citizens 5. Citizens’ Rates Brian Donovan – Director of Actuarial Services – Citizens 6. Public Testimony 7. Future Meetings Adjourn
The agenda does not say too much. That may be because there is no Chairperson yet to provide leadership. I don’t understand why Citizens is running the agenda; my understanding is the Task Force is supposed to make recommendations regarding the role of Citizens in the future. For some background information, here is a link to the bill creating this entity. There will be some obvious issues.
These include: 1. Should Citizens be an insurer of "last resort?" Meaning that if a policyholder cannot get insurance in the private market, then Citizens is there as purely a backup. 2. Should Citizens charge rates that are not actuarially sound? The rates have not been so because of the public outcry following the 2004 Hurricane season. 3. Can Citizens help develop insurance markets by selling new insurance companies books of business? These are public meetings, and they will be interesting to say the least. Florida is not the only state with the problem of having an insurer of "last resort," or something similar to Citizens because the private insurance market will not insure all risks. Stay tuned.
