Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable. —Mark Twain Closed claim file statistics reported by various departments of insurance following hurricanes seem absurd to those in the impacted areas and those working in the insurance claim business. The root of the problem is that most departments of insurance put pressure on insurance companies to … Continue Reading
Hurricane Michael insurance claims continue to take up a lot of time with Merlin Law Group attorneys. The photograph above is from dinner last night in Panama City, Florida, where the issues and problems of getting insurance claims resolved fully were the hot topic of discussion. Hurricane Michael has a lot of slow and low … Continue Reading
The Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) has issued an email authorizing Florida licensed public adjusters to hire anybody to make estimates of damage. This email corrects my latest two blogs which indicated that the OIR wanted to prevent those not licensed from working on insurance claims by determining valuations of loss and estimates of damage.… Continue Reading
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation recently released updated data from Hurricane Irma.1 A quick review of the data paints an interesting picture. While we all know that Irma did substantial damage in Florida, the sheer size of the numbers is still daunting. Almost one million claims have been reported (997,237) totaling over $10,000,000,000.00 in … Continue Reading
Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation obtains claims information from insurance carriers and releases them to the public. Here is its first release regarding Hurricane Irma:… Continue Reading
The State of Florida is in the process of replacing the current Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. As this blog has outlined in prior posts, McCarty has been a fair and effective commissioner under very difficult circumstances. His departure will be a loss for Florida’s insurance consumers.… Continue Reading
Almost two months ago I wrote a blog about the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s announcement it was issuing orders for insurance companies to end a 1.3 percent “emergency assessment” for the state-run Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which provides backup coverage to insurers.1… Continue Reading
Each year the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) publishes an Annual Report for the prior year pursuant to Florida Statute Section 624.315. I was researching another issue when I thought this would be a good blog post. This report briefly describes OIR roles and responsibilities, summarizes major activities and accomplishments, and highlights the state … Continue Reading
Florida’s CFO Jeff Atwater must have had sticker shock when getting his bill for insurance renewal premiums. Last week, Atwater fired off a letter to Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty asking why Florida insurance rates were still going up despite a drop in reinsurance rates.… Continue Reading
Many states have prompt claim payment statutes.1 In Florida, we have myriad statutes aimed at facilitating the prompt adjustment of claims.2 So, are insurers adjusting claims as promptly as they should be? Here are statistics obtained by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation while conducting a market conduct examination of one of the largest homeowners … Continue Reading
Friends and family looking to buy insurance (property, disability, life, auto, whatever) often ask me what insurance companies I recommend. The lead-in to my answer is usually: “Well, based solely on my professional and personal experience, I’d stay away from ____________.”… Continue Reading
People’s Trust Ranks Number 1 for complaints…again. In Florida, the Office of Insurance Regulation is required by Florida Statute §624.313 to publish statistics and ratios on the complaints consumers submit against insurance companies. The OIR’s primary responsibility is regulation, compliance, and enforcement of statutes relating to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry … Continue Reading
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation “OIR” is required by Florida Statute §624.313 to publish statistics and ratios on the complaints consumers submit against insurance companies. Its primary responsibility is regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes relating to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets. Florida Statute requires the OIR to annually publish … Continue Reading
The Florida legislature and Office of Insurance Regulation should learn from insurance history, recent warnings, and common sense when it comes to building a stable Florida insurance marketplace. Former Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate, and now lawyer in the Merlin Law Group, Sean Shaw highlighted a fundamental flaw in Florida’s insurance marketplace in a recent St. … Continue Reading
Sinkhole claim information was collected from 215 insurance companies and the results were reported on November 8, 2010. Chip Merlin posted about the report and the absence of fraudulent sinkhole claims in his post, Florida 2010 Sinkhole Report Findings Published — Where’s the Fraud? A few other interesting points in the report also stand out … Continue Reading
Sinkholes are a problem in Florida. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation conducted a data call study from insurers regarding the insurance issues created by this peril. One significant finding was the extremely low reported cases of fraud. Here is what the report said on that issue: From 2006 through 2010, only 203 claims were … Continue Reading
Should Florida create a fourth state-run Insurance entity to cover sinkhole losses? This question was recently reported on by Julie Patel of the Sun-Sentinel. The question was raised during an Office of Insurance Regulation symposium held in Orlando. The attendees were primarily those in the insurance industry—insurance consumers are usually at work during the day.… Continue Reading
Could you imagine the outcry if the government forced you to waive legal rights to obtain needed services? Sawgrass Mutual is essentially doing that with its own customers—and the Office of Insurance Regulation and the new Consumer Advocate are doing nothing about it.… Continue Reading
Since 2004, the majority of our law firm’s large insurance battles have focused on hurricane loss insurance disputes. It is not surprising that we are getting phone calls from people asking whether our firm will open offices somewhere between North Carolina and Boston as Hurricane Earl is projected to hit that area. I was surprised by a … Continue Reading
The Insurance Commissioner has apparently decided to start calling some of my clients. According to the St. Petersburg Times, his office is trying to find statistical information regarding sinkholes reported between 2006 and 2009. We’ll call and try to find out more information so we can help them get accurate answers, but, in "Florida Regulators … Continue Reading
A number of policyholder attorneys have asked me why FIGA is being so difficult lately. At one time, it was not that way. There has obviously been a change of the guard because nobody should expect quick resolution of any claim from FIGA based on recent complaints and the developing case law helps demonstrate this … Continue Reading
An Order by the Office of Insurance Regulation shows one method some Florida insurers may use to “poor mouth” losses to the public and our legislators in Tallahassee while taking millions home through shell accounting techniques. Many of the smaller insurers operate as three corporations–the insurer, a managing general agent, and a holding company. It … Continue Reading
Why do so many of our politicians play to the lobbyists and support laws that harm the average person and voter? This is exactly what has happened with important laws sponsored by the insurance industry lobbyists and then proposed by Florida Senator Mike Bennett of Bradenton and Representative Bill Proctor of St. Augustine. These politicians … Continue Reading
There are times when I am troubled about what I write on this blog. This is one of them. I know that many people are going to read this who have very different viewpoints. When a number of people tell you in advance that they look forward to what you are going to write, there … Continue Reading
