TALLAHASSEE, Florida (BestWire) — The State of Florida is considering a class-action lawsuit against property/casualty insurers for allegedly failing to pass on savings to consumers as required under a state law implemented in early 2007.

Governor Charlie Crist tasked his general counsel and three private attorneys – Dexter Douglass, Robert Hackleman, and Roberto "Bobby" Martinez – with investigating how the state can sue insurers to win homeowners refunds for what he said are overpayments on premiums, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

House Bill 1-A, signed into law in January, mandated rollbacks in property insurance rates from 10 percent to 35 percent. Crist and other supporters said the decreases would reflect potential savings created by an expansion of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, designed to allow insurers to purchase reinsurance at a discounted rate.

"This is a disturbing development, and counterproductive to what the state of Florida needs, which is an honest conversation among insurers and political leaders about the things we can work together on to address the state's property insurance challenges," Julie Pulliam, Southeast Region Public Affairs Director for the American Insurance Association, said of the governor's action.

"We will keep working to have that dialogue despite the governor's insistence on taking another path."

Liz Reynolds, Southeast state affairs manager for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, also called for dialogue, saying, "Suing will only cost policyholders even more in the long run."