Brace for insurance lawsuits as Florida casts wider net in investigations
Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said the state is broadening its investigation into alleged insurance fraud.
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.
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.
Abraham’s Miami practice specializes in civil litigation representing insurance policyholders in Florida who have been underpaid or denied coverage by their insurance companies.
“These remedies need to be protected and expanded by the legislature, so that carriers can be held accountable to the policyholders while claims are being adjusted, not years down the road,” Abraham said.
Long-time insurance litigation expert Michael Neimand said the focus is not aimed at what insurance companies are doing right, it’s pointing out the bad apples. Some companies may go out of business legitimately.
“If an insurance company has a claim, and they go insolvent, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association takes over and pays a claim. And as long as they pay the claim and they don’t fight it, you can’t get attorneys fees,” Neimand says. “You can’t get their faith because the state is trying to make good for the bad insurance company.”
Neimand, who is not connected with this case offered his assessment from his years working with insurance companies in appeal court cases as a lawyer representing insurers. Before insurance litigation, Neimand was a criminal attorney and offers advice to those types of companies he may have worked with in the past.
“If they committed a crime, then they do the time. If you don’t want to do the time, don’t commit the crime,” Neimand said.
Palm Beach County public adjuster Karen Schiffmiller said the broadening of this investigation benefits all Floridians in the protection of the consumer.
“Insurance companies cannot just cover and pay a portion of the loss and ignore the rest of the damage,” Schiffmiller said. “Some insurance companies deny covered claims, whether through oversight or otherwise, and delay and underpay what should be owed per the terms of their policy. … This is not right for the policyholder, and also further harms our property insurance ecosystem in Florida.”
’I think Jimmy Patronis is on the right track’
Michael Haggard of Haggard Law Group said he is encouraged by Patronis expanding the Department’s investigation into alleged insurance fraud.
As a homeowner, Haggard had to hire an attorney to litigate his own fight with his insurance carrier, Heritage Property and Casualty Co., whom he said refused to cover damages when Hurricane Irma struck the Florida Keys as Category 4 storm.
“We’re talking about my roof. There wasn’t a flood. It wasn’t a flood defense. It was just being absolutely cheap, not agreeing to settle the case,” Haggard said.
Haggard said the property insurance law, House Bill 837, in the tort reform legislation passed in Tallassee stripping one-way attorneys fees, has an impact on premiums going forward.
“Every policy has been reduced in value right right now because of the legislation,” he said. “But now what we’ve learned is that they [insurance companies] were already reducing and cutting and slashing these claims. Not only during Ian, but in prior storms. So I think Jimmy Patronis is on the right track. It would be the first [time] in the state that we actually investigated these folks and hold them to their fire.”
Millions recovered
Many insurance companies that went out of business are also on the state’s CFO’s radar.
The Department of Financial Services says between 2011 and 2023, it has taken legal action against 32 insurers that have gone insolvent, and recovered tens of millions of dollars on behalf of policyholders.
Patronis’ office also confirmed that The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is conducting a forensic review of insurance company actions on claims, not just following Ian but Hurricane Nicole as well.
Meanwhile, public adjuster Schiffmiller commended the passage of Insurance Accountability Bill SB 7052 prohibiting an insurance company from altering or amending adjusters’ reports without providing a detailed explanation for any reduction of the estimate of loss.
“Several of my clients have been severely impacted when insolvent carriers either didn’t pay or underpaid their claims,” Schiffmiller said. “They now have to wait months [to] get their claims paid, and they cannot afford to make the repairs. This has gone on far too long, and something must be done.”
Schiffmiller continued, “If we do not see insurance companies providing fair payouts to their policyholders, despite the passing of the recent legislation, we will continue to see litigation as property owners are still suffering and displaced from their homes.”
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