Patronis: House Lawmakers Should "Vote 'yes' on AOB Reform"

In an effort to curb assignment of benefits abuse, House Bill 7065 was introduced. The Florida House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the legislation and Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, is making a plea for House members to vote yes.

In a statement, Patronis asserted that “it’s time to step up and pass critical reform to protect Florida consumers. We cannot kick the can down the road another year and leave homeowners stuck in the middle of the bad actors who have twisted AOB into an abusive practice for their own financial gain.”

Patronis further declared that Florida lawmakers should “show they stand by the rights of Florida’s consumers and vote ‘yes’ on AOB reform.” He explained that the bill would be a move in the right path “but additional loopholes, such as overbilling in the auto glass industry, need to be closed so we can protect families who call our state home.”

Last month, David Altmaier, the Florida Insurance Commissioner, also commented on the legislation, saying that “AOB abuse has an adverse impact on our consumers and directly undermines the ability of Floridians to have reliable insurance products available at affordable prices.” Altmaier added that he “will remain a vocal proponent of measures that stem AOB abuse and protects consumers from the abusive tactics exhibited by bad actors who exploit Florida’s unique attorney fee structure.”

In addition, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has also weighed in on the subject.

In his first state of the state speech given on March 5^th, Governor DeSantis informed that “there are areas where Florida can do better.” And, DeSantis hoped to see the Florida legislature pass “legislation to reform the issue of AOB, which has become a racket.”

As House lawmakers are set to vote on the bill this week, Patronis hopes to see them echo in Governor DeSantis’ view of showing that “Florida can do better” by voting in favor of the legislation.