As noted by Aaron Deslatte in ‘Bad faith’ Bill Gets a Bad Start in House Committee, the proposed legislation I commented on at length yesterday in A Terrible Proposed Law Which Could Harm All Floridians is Up For Consideration Today failed. This is a win for the Good Guys. There is no uncertainty that the Bad Guys, the insurance lobby, support these draconian changes to longstanding laws that protect policyholders.
Two years ago in Good Guys vs. Bad Guys, I wrote about this battle being fought in Mississippi:
The problem is the insurance companies are very powerful "bad guys" when it comes to legislation giving their customers an even hand. Insurance companies are not people. They are mere fictitious entities filed under law. They do not breathe, bleed nor die. They can, and have, accumulated more money than most of people can imagine. By law, these fictitious paper entities are supposed to serve a public purpose. They agree to abide by laws required under licenses for which they voluntarily apply.
In Mississippi, there are people who will be "bought off" by the insurance companies. They are the insurance company lobbyists, lawyers, publicists, and employees that will do everything they can to prevent laws and regulations that support the rights of the insurers’ customers. The insurers will influence patronage of bad public servants through donations and money. They have done this for a long time and have many supporters dependent on the largesse spread by the insurance support industry. These are the "bad guys."
This fight is not about the interpretation of a law or contract. It is not about how much an insurance rate should be or a lawsuit about whether a promise or duty has been violated.
This is a fight, like so many in different venues, where people are simply trying to make laws that force insurance companies to uphold promises and duties owed to the people that are to them, the customers. There can be nothing wrong with making laws that hold insurance companies accountable for breaking contractual promises and duties they agreed to abide by when getting their licenses.
These fights will continue. God willing, we will succeed in our battles against the insurers and for the rights of policyholders. The outcome is not predetermined, so long as we stand together and try.
