Tim Meenan participated in a panel discussing Assignment of Benefits scams and how they are driving up the cost of residential homeowners insurance in Florida on May 18, 2016. Tim specifically discussed the 2016 legislative session and the industry’s attempt to enact legislation allowing Homeowners to take control of their claims by not giving away all of their rights under the insurance policy to a vendor. “Homeowners lose leverage to make sure the repairs are made properly when a vendor gets and assignment of benefits….it’s like paying in full for the work before the repairs even begin” said Tim. The panel discussed the growing claims emerging from this litigation explosion, how it affects homeowners, and how it will impact reinsurers after the next storm. At this same conference, the National Weather Service discussed the beginning of an El Nina weather pattern that could predict as many as 8 major hurricanes in the 2016 storm season, making a fix to the AOB problem even more important.