Hurricane Matthew could be the first major test of claims-handling capabilities by numerous young insurance companies created since the 2004-05 run of hurricanes that ended with Wilma. Read more from the Sun-Sentinel here
State-backed Citizens Property Insurance will continue pushing lawmakers next year to approve changes that would address the increasing number of water-damage claims. Read the entire article here
The 11-year hurricane drought in Florida is officially over. While preliminary damage estimates and claims are still trickling in from Hurricane Hermine, Florida’s first named hurricane since 2005, the consensus from the insurance industry is it could have been a lot worse. Read the entire article from Insurance Journal here
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation ("OIR") and the Department of Financial Services ("DFS") advised today, September 8, 2016, that they have been made aware of a scam involving the unauthorized use of Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier's name and position. A fraudulent email, appearing to be sent from Commissioner Altmaier, has been sent to [...]
The Consumer Protection Coalition urges homeowners to beware of insurance scams involving Assignment of Benefits (AOB) in the wake of Hurricane Hermine. The landfall of Hurricane Hermine unfortunately has created new opportunities for unscrupulous home repair vendors and trial attorneys to profit off the disaster by asking homeowners to sign an AOB when seeking repairs [...]
Following the landfall of Hurricane Hermine, many Floridians are now beginning the process of notifying their insurance carrier of damaged property and items and taking steps to make temporary repairs to prevent additional damage. Read the entire article from the Tallahassee Democrat here
Having spent more than 27 years of my professional career reviewing and rating the financial stability of insurance companies, including the last 20 years focused on the stabilization of property insurance marketplaces in catastrophe prone jurisdictions such as Florida, Louisiana and Texas, I have a sense of Twain’s or Jefferson’s frustration. Read the entire article [...]
State-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is looking for a 9 percent increase from Palm Beach County homeowners – and an average 6.8 percent statewide – even though there hasn’t been a hurricane in more than 10 years. Read more from the Palm Beach Post here
The FPCA prepared the following letter to the editor in response to an August 22, 2016 Miami Herald newspaper feature on South Florida's largest homeowners insurers. Dear Editor: We applaud the Miami Herald’s efforts to educate its readers on the state’s home insurance market, but a recent article included inaccurate assessments of Florida-based insurers by Weiss [...]
Assignments of benefits, commonly referred to as AOBs, are not fraudulent, and its use is not a crime. Yet in Florida, AOBs are the fastest-moving vehicles for fraudulent activity in homeowners’ insurance claims. While AOBs have been used in personal injury protection (PIP), auto glass, and health insurance claims for years, they are appearing with [...]