Many Hurricane Irma insurance claims remain unsettled
Now industry officials acknowledge it is possible they underpaid on tens of thousands of claims they declared closed after the September hurricane.
Citizens President
Problems have been complicated by a scarcity of contractors to complete repairs in a difficult year, which can push up the market rate for fixing damage and cause claims to be revisited, he said.
He cast it as a challenge to increase "educational efforts" to inform consumers initial payments might not be the final word.
"In some cases, policyholders have incorrectly assumed that the initial payment was the only reimbursement they would receive for their claims," Gilway said. "As such, they have sought the aid of public adjusters or law firms who are more than happy to take their case."
When third parties get involved, it can inflate the cost of claims and drive up premiums for all policyholders, company officials say.
But why are so many claims declared closed in the first place, only to be reopened? A group representing public adjusters, who pitch themselves as working for consumers and not insurers, asserts insurance companies have plenty of incentives to make claims sound all wrapped up and hope policyholders accept it.
"The truth is many claims are timely paid and many other claims are grossly underpaid or not paid at all," said
His group contends Cititzens "prematurely" closed many claims, but the state's last-resort insurer at least is grappling publicly with an issue that adjusters say is all too often treated with terse letters and unreturned calls at many private insurers. The adjusters association cites the case of a woman who owns a
Universal disputed that account, saying the
After several requests, he said, Universal "only recently received information from the public adjuster setting forth his position with respect to the claim. This information is under review."
Generally, Miller said,
In
More than 15,000 claims in the county have been closed without payment, and more than 5,000 are still open. Among various reasons for denials, insurers have said they do not believe damage was caused by Irma, should be paid by a separate flood policy, or does not meet hurricane deductibles. That's the money the property owner has to cough up before insurance kicks in, and in
In
"It makes me not sleep," Zuniga said.
But the books on 2017's biggest storm remain far from closed even as the next threats await, as Farach paints the picture: "Many South Floridians whose homes and other property were damaged are still waiting to get paid by insurers while the 2018 hurricane season looms on the horizon."
Hurricane Irma
--Value of
--Claims filed: 924,439 in
--Closed with payment: 521,797 in state, 20,491 in county
--Closed without payment: 296,724 in state, 15,215 in county
--Open: 105,918 in state, 5,048 in county
Source:
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