Dear Editor,

It was no surprise to see that the rising cost of property insurance was one of the key topics of the gubernatorial debate last week between Governor Ron DeSantis and Charlie Crist.

Florida’s insurance marketplace was already suffering due to a variety of reasons, and more and more consumers were being hit with notices that fees were going up or that policies were being cancelled.

One of the things that Governor DeSantis pointed to as a major cost driver for insurance policy holders is exorbitant attorney fees. 

Few people realize that in Florida, we have a system of one-way attorney fees.  That sounds great in concept because it puts insurers on the hook for picking up the tab for a policy-holder’s attorney fees if that policy-holder has to sue his insurer for failure to perform.

However, it has gotten out of control.  Now, many times, a policy-holder is prodded to sue, and the judgment awarded ends up being tiny relative to the outrageous attorney fees being awarded at the same time.  Every other policy-holder has to pick up the bill for that with higher premium.

The governor made it clear this has to stop, and I support the governor.  He’s been right on every policy issue since he’s been in office, and I think he’s right on this one too.

Ashton Norton
1705 Carabelle Beach Drive
Carabelle, FL  32322