'House of cards'

Another Florida Legislature session has ended, and another attempt to pass assignment of benefits reform failed.

If you've ever gone to the doctor, you're probably familiar with the concept of assignment of benefits. You sign a form that allows your health-care provider to work directly with your insurance company to secure compensation for their work. It's a practice that tends to work pretty smoothly.

But AOB agreements are being used more often in property insurance in Florida, and things aren't working quite as well. In this case, third-party contractors — predominantly working in water remediation and sometimes roofing — get homeowners to sign a document assigning the benefits of their insurance policy over to the vendor. This gives the vendor the right to deal directly with the insurance company on the claim.