A Florida appeals court ruled Dec. 29 that public insurance adjusters’ commercial free speech rights are violated if they are prohibited from soliciting people until 48 hours after an event that could lead to an insurance claim.
The First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, Fla., issued its ruling in a suit filed by a public insurance adjuster against the Florida Department of Financial Services, according to a Miami Herald report.
The ban, created by the state legislature following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, which included Hurricane Katrina, prohibits insurance adjusters from soliciting business for 48 hours after an event leading to an insurance claim, including a hurricane or other disaster. Legislators imposed the ban in response to allegations that insurers were responsible for unnecessary or inflated insurance claims, the newspaper reported.
The financial services department, which regulates insurance activity in the state, did not prove that banning contact with victims of events that would cause a possible claim “is justified by the possibility that some public adjusters may unduly pressure traumatized victims or otherwise engage in unethical or unprofessional behavior,” the newspaper said, citing court documents.
Florida appeals court rules public insurance adjuster ban illegal via IFAwebnews.com .
No related posts.
