Broken system: Florida’s insurance mess front and center 6 months after Hurricane Ian
Six months ago, Hurricane Ian slammed into
Six months later, many region residents still feel they are getting slammed by the storm.
Frustration is surging with insurance companies and the handling of Ian-related claims and coverage.
And they are not alone.
Residents, small business owners and local nonprofit leaders continue to face the stiff winds of
CONSTERNATION IN
Buccine and Ferguson own condominiums at the
Ferguson and her husband, Peter, own a condo in the unit community — as does Buccine, the president of the
Like other condo projects, there are insurance carriers for the interiors and interior systems of individual owners' units. Another carrier is used for the development's exterior structure.
Buccine said the
So far, she said, the condo association's insurance carrier,
"Woefully shy of us being able to get started (on repairs)," Buccine said.
She said 25 of her condo neighbors are full-time residents of the community. While six units were untouched, others were totaled by the storm.
"Many of them have no walls, no ceilings, no bathrooms, no kitchens," Buccine said.
The condo HOA hired an attorney in December to press the insurance carrier and potentially pursue litigation after frustrations over delays, hiccups over damages estimates and lack of communication.
"We were given assurance payments were coming, but they never came," Buccine said.
Buccine said the HOA had to go into its financial reserves after the storm to help bring some livability and protection to exposed units and is seeking loans to help move the rebuilding process forward.
After hiring a lawyer, HOA received a
Heritage did not respond to requests for comment.
Buccine said a new adjuster is bringing in a drywall contractor to start some repair work.
She just wants storm damage funding "to be made whole," she said.
"We are not looking for any funding we don't deserve," Buccine said, mirroring frustrations across
"They've been, overall, pretty good to work with," Ferguson said.
But like other residents, she's concerned about the Heritage situation and getting the condo property's exteriors and other community covered assets such as roofs repaired.
"Heritage is a whole other story," she said. "There is a pretty big delta between what has been paid and what is needed to make the condos whole again."
'WHY IS IT TAKING
In
The couple came to
Cochran said the hurricane cut a destructive path through their 815-home community.
"Over 300 had major damage. A lot of them are being demolished," she said.
Cochran is upset with her homeowners insurance company,
She said the storm damaged the roof to her manufactured home and an attached
"It flooded everything," Cochran said.
The home was purchased for
"We are living in the house. We bought air purifiers. We have water in the underbelly. We're living with the musty smell," she said. "Why are they taking so long?"
Cochran said she has been impressed with service and car insurance claims handled by
Cochran said there are still tarps serving as roofs, and she has now hired an attorney to press the insurance carrier.
American Integrity did not respond to requests for comment.
MORE CANCELLATIONS, PULLOUTS
Private insurance companies are continuing the trend of pulling out of the
UPC announced last month it was selling its "personal lines business" to
But some other UPC policies were, or are, slated to be canceled outside of the deal with Slide, according to the
Gendreau is still looking for a replacement policy with new quotes in the
"We're still looking," Gendreau said. "It's really hard. The rates have jumped exponentially."
UPC did not respond, directly, to a request for comment.
However, when the company was put into receivership
"We are deeply disappointed with our fourth quarter results driven by Hurricane Ian loss development that ultimately exhausted the reinsurance available to our subsidiary,
The insurer will continue to sell commercial insurance.
CUSTOMER SERVICES PROMISES
"This has been accelerated due to UPC's receivership," Lucas said. "In the future, these policyholders can expect enhanced portal capabilities as well as streamlined service and claims."
He said Slide does not plan on canceling the policies it picked up from UPC and stressed the company's focus on serving customers including those in disputes over claims.
"Resolution may include re-inspecting or re-reviewing the case, connecting the customer to trusted vendor partners who can help when there are construction delays, providing documentation so that they may seek flood damage assistance with the appropriate entity, and so on," Lucas said. "Our goal in all cases is to honor the policy contract and help the policyholder get their home back to pre-loss condition as soon as possible."
LACK OF TRUST
The challenge is many
That includes skepticism toward insurance industry-backed changes moving to fruition through the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Cochran said she sent a note to Gov.
"Why is the government allowing this?" she said. "
Insurance industry groups, the
"We have a lot of pressures on the private insurance market,"
Wilson and other business and insurance advocates point to a surge of lawsuits.
"We have 76% of the nation's lawsuits on homeowners insurance," Wilson said, adding
Waves of litigation — whether it's related to hurricane damage, replacement of roofs on homes or sometimes dubious windshield auto insurance claims — drives up insurance costs giving
"We need more insurance companies coming to
The
"The incentive by a personal injury trial lawyer is to always ask for 3, 4, 5 times (usual attorneys fees)," Wilson said. "The big losers in the legal reforms are the people on the billboard, radio and television encouraging you to sue somebody."
"We cannot allow 'Big Insurance' or multi-billion-dollar corporations to dictate our rights and block the courthouse doors," FJA President
DeSantis said state insurance and financial regulators are investigating consumer complaints regarding lowball hurricane insurance claims and cancellations.
"They need to be held accountable and they are going to be aggressively doing it," DeSantis said at a
On Friday, he signed House Bill 837 into law.
EDITORIAL: Legislature went too far to help insurers
Hundreds of thousands of Florida children could lose health coverage with Medicaid cutbacks [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
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