It Was an Awesome Event... Challenges Await! - September 2022

Mike Silvers, CPRC, Silvers Systems Inc. and FRSA Director of Technical Services

It was great to see so many industry professionals at our 100th Anniversary Convention and Expo. For those of us who have been involved for many years, it was a chance to catch up with old friends. For all of us it was a chance to make new acquaintances and build future friendships. I think it was an absolute success. Having it in Daytona Beach, in the same city where our founding meeting was held 100 years earlier, made the effort to hold it in an unusual venue worthwhile. It will stand out as a unique event for our Association as we move forward into our second century. And move forward we will. Our new President, Matt Criswell, has laid out several priorities for us. During his very thoughtful acceptance speech he stated:

“One of those initiatives over the past year is insurance reform within our industry. I don’t mean general liability or workers’ comp or auto. It’s about the elephant in the room – the issue of the roofing companies that help bastardize the claims process. Whether you like it or hate it, it has been a massive detriment to our industry these past few years. We’ve got to come up with a solution that benefits everyone. If you are one of these companies that participate in an insurance-only game, I’m not asking you to close up shop, rather expand what you have built and do it the right way.”

Those of you who are involved in our leadership or who regularly read this column know, as Matt stated, we have been dealing with this issue for the past few years. This abuse has prompted many thoughtful improvements in statutes and the building code. It has also caused many not so helpful knee jerk reactions. All of these are attempting to rein in the runaway increases in claims, lawsuits and the resulting property insurance premiums. There isn’t space in this article to dissect the many root causes for the problem. However, we will review some attempts to deal with this problem when the legislation was passed during the recent special session and subsequently signed by the Governor. Now the so-called sausage making starts as state agencies, commissions, workgroups and those being regulated go to work. Read more.