Florida Insurance Commissioner named in public policy circumvention lawsuit

by | May 19, 2022



 

The lawsuit was filed in Leon County by Air Quality Assessors, which operates as a contractor for the Restoration Association of Florida (RAF). The motion seeks to reverse a policy change and asserts that Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier allowed two companies — American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida and Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company — to bypass state law to alter preexisting policies, violating state law and Constitution.

The lawsuit claims that American Heritage sought and received approval for a policy change that requires policyholders to agree to take any dispute to mediation and arbitration rather than a courtroom, according to Insurance Business America.

The suit alleges that Altmaier acted without authority to approve the American Integrity and Heritage contract terms that override public policy.

“It is not a secret that property damage insurance claims are prevalent in Florida due to the occurrence of hurricanes, floods, and other storm-related events. Homeowners rely on their insurance companies and the policies purchased as life preservers after problems occur,” the complaint reads.”Yet, the goal of the Insurance Company Defendants here is to mount as many barriers as possible to homeowners receiving the proceeds of their policies for lawful claims, while at the same time, reaping the benefits of policy premiums paid by Floridians.”

Florida’s insurance market woes are mounting, with soaring premium costs and a bevy of policy cancellations.

FedNat Insurance Co., a Florida-based property insurance agency, entered into a financial restructuring plan. While not insolvency, meaning the company is not being liquidated, FedNat is forced to terminate roughly half of its Florida policies.

The Capitolist reported last month that FedNat acknowledged in an 8K filing with the SEC that “there is substantial doubt regarding its ability to continue as a going concern under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”).” For publicly traded companies, an 8K filing is required to notify their shareholders and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when an “unscheduled material event” takes place.

Now on Thursday, FedNat CFO Ronald A. Jordan has resigned from his position according to a filing from the FedNat Holding Company.

Florida lawmakers plan to convene in May to address the spate of failures within Florida’s property and casualty insurance market that has been clobbered by lawsuits stemming from hurricane and storm-related claims over the last several years.

“The good news is, on property insurance, I think we’re going to get really, really significant reforms,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a recent press conference.

1 Comment

  1. Deborah Coffey

    As corrupt as Trump. Always protecting the “big guys,” never the people.

 

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