Well, maybe not the gecko (especially since Geico farms out their homeowners program to other carriers), but it does seem that a few pointy-haired folks from around the insurance industry will be summoned to Tallahassee. From a blog post at the Orlando Sentinel’s website:
Top insurance executives are being summoned — and maybe even subpoenaed — to testify under oath next month before a newly formed Senate select committee examining why last year’s legislative overhaul of homeowners’ insurance has not caused rates to plummet. [...]
“We’re going to be looking for CEO’s” to testify, said Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, D-Cooper City. “We’re going to be looking for Mr. Farm from State Farm. From GEICO, we’re going to want the Gecko himself….We want people in authority.”
The post mentions that State Farm, Allstate, Travelers, and the Hartford could receive the summons. There’s also a quote from a PCI rep hoping that the industry gets a fair hearing, as they try to explain why they can’t fulfill legislators’ promise to voters that property insurance rates would drop significantly in the wake of last year’s reform.
I’d hope that legislators will be willing to listen…and that the summoned insurers actually try to explain the analysis involved, rather than fall back upon standard government relations lines. But…well, I see nothing here to dispel cynicism when looking at either side of that table.
