Florida's Chief Financial Officer acknowledged a "broken law" governs the state's insurance industry, and said officials are ready to do something about it.

In response, lawyers across the state are now bracing for a round of lawsuits as the floodgates open for more litigation against insurance companies, whose actions are coming under new scrutiny.

Jimmy Patronis Jr., Chief Financial Officer of the state of Florida. Credit: DFS Florida via Wikimedia Commons

Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said the state is broadening its investigation into alleged insurance fraud.

At a gathering of journalists in Orlando, Patronis was asked if insurance executives of present or former Florida carriers would be arrested and charged with crimes.

Patronis replied, "If the law was broken, yes, of course."

Patronis' Department of Financial Services is investigating alleged fraud in the wake of Hurricane Ian, and also reopening cases from prior storms, alleging carriers cheated homeowners, his office said.

"Because at the end of the day, you want to make sure that investigation is so thorough, so black and white so that when it's turned over to a prosecutor, that criminal charges need to be levied that we can stand behind those charges and that the prosecution has no hesitation in pursuing prosecution," Patronis said.

Some lawyers applaud

Attorneys like Joseph Abraham welcomed the broadening probe.

"The real deterrent to dishonest and bad faith claim handling by Florida insurance carriers has always been consumer access to legal remedies such as the Civil Remedy Notice, and the punitive damages carriers might face for instituting unscrupulous business practices," he said.