(Update: Thursday's meeting has been postponed, as Senate Bill 708 that relates to assignment of benefits has been held up. Stay tuned to R&R for more updates.)

You may remember last year’s Florida House Bill 909, which would have taken away the homeowner’s ability to assign rights and benefits under their insurance contract. Essentially, it would have shifted risk from the insurance company to the mortgage holder and wouldn’t guarantee that a contractor be paid for any work after it was completed.

A group, the Florida Association of Restoration Specialists (FLARS), was mobilized in time to stop this language from appearing in the bill. But there’s still work that needs to be done, according to FLARS President Jeff Grant. A meeting will be held this Thursday in Tallahassee, FL on the subject. Here is a recent letter that Grant wrote to FLARS members – and the restoration industry – in its entirety:

“With your help & support last year, FLARS was successful in defeating HB 909 and the ban on Assignment of Benefits that threatened our businesses. Already this year, prior to the official start of the Florida Legislative session, we have been working to stop any language that would ban the assignment of benefits.  We have been in meetings with the Consumer Advocate Group of Florida, we have met with the Florida CFO, NFIB has been working with us to help protect the Florida small businesses that this can affect. While we have made headway, we need our members and any colleagues or competitors in the business to join us and help to continue to fight the ban on assignment of benefits.

This Thursday (March 6, 2014) in Tallahassee, there will be a committee meeting and the more members and business owners and representatives we can have present, the better.  Please show your support by coming to Tallahassee on Thursday. If you cannot make it to Tallahassee, please email and call your Senators, your Representatives and the members of the Banking & Insurance Committee and let them know any ban on assignment of benefits is bad for the consumers and businesses in Florida.

 Thank you for your support.  For more information or if you have questions, please contact FLARS President, Jeff Grant at (850) 242-8449.”  

For more information on last year's Florida House Bill 909 and the threat it posed to Florida restoration workers and the industry as a whole, click here.