Category: Hurricane Insurance

Homeowners and commercial property owners in Florida know what it’s like to suffer from hurricane damage, tropical storms, and other acts of Mother Nature.

Many of them also know that getting compensated for the damages through their hurricane insurance is a tedious process. Unfortunately, Floridians are no strangers to dealing with uncooperative insurance adjusters or insurance companies that delay, undervalue, or deny hurricane insurance claims.

If this sounds like you, you should seek help from a hurricane insurance attorney in Florida to help you obtain the compensation you deserve to repair your damaged home or business property and replace damaged or destroyed items.

Do not hesitate to speak with a Fort Myers hurricane insurance attorney at HD Law Partners to discuss your options. Every minute counts.

Often, homeowners and business owners in Florida complain that their insurance company is delaying the claims process by:

Proposed changes to the law in Florida could ultimately affect the ability for policyholders to hold their insurance companies accountable in terms of delaying or failing to settle claims, including those related to hurricane relief. A bill recently submitted to the legislature would make a number of changes that would cripple the ability for the consumer to go after their insurance company in the face of bad faith behavior, including taking the claim away from a jury and placing it into the hands of an administrative judge and denying the consumer the right to discovery, which would effectively leave them without any evidence, and without a case.

Current State of “Bad Faith Insurance Law” in Florida

Florida imposes what’s known as a “duty of good faith” when it comes to settling a claim with the insured or a third party, which means acting “fairly and honestly” towards its insured with regard to their interest. This means that the insurer cannot expose the insured to increased liability by failing to settle any claims against the insured, nor can they harm a third party to the insurance contract by failing to settle a claim.

On December 5, Florida-based Citizens Property Insurance Corporation announced that it would be paying a number of appraisers to review various hurricane insurance lawsuits and disputes related to Hurricane Irma and expediting settlement and resolutions of these disputes. Reportedly, if the appraisers cannot come to an agreement, Citizens will resort to paying “umpires” to make binding decisions.

According to the company’s chief claims officer, the goal is to settle about 6,500 lawsuits. Still, only a reported 60 plaintiffs have accepted offers from the company since it started contacting plaintiff’s’ attorneys in mid-October, possibly because a number of claimants may realize that they will not be offered what they need directly from the company.

Hurricane Irma, Citizens Property Insurance, and Current Claims

Hurricane Irma significantly affected Citizens Property Insurance, as a number of Florida property owners had policies with the company. According to reports, just between January and October 2018, there was a 71 percent increase in lawsuits against the company, with more than 1,100 lawsuits filed each month. Of the current 6,500 open Hurricane Irma lawsuits, 84 percent reportedly involve disputes concerning how much money it will take to bring properties back to pre-loss conditions. These involve cases where Citizens either made inadequate payments to policyholders or decided that no payment was due because damage costs did not exceed deductible amounts. 89 percent of the thousands of open lawsuits originated from Broward and Miami-Dade counties, which are home to approximately 51 percent of Citizens’ policyholders.

The estimated damage – just to agricultural resources – from Hurricane Michael across Florida and several other states is forecast to go over $1.3 billion, and includes cotton farms, pecan farms, and poultry operations as some of the hardest hit. Hurricanes are especially damaging to cotton crops, leading to an increase in the price of cotton. It is clear that farmers in particular are going to need all the help they can get in order to recover, and most of that help will need to come from crop insurance.

Florida also suffered significant timber losses as well. An estimated three million acres of timber were damaged by the hurricane, along with other commodities. It will likely take years for the industry to recover and replace lost trees.

In anticipation of these losses and those expected to hit homeowners, in mid-October, Gov. Rick Scott ordered emergency changes to insurance rules as they apply Hurricane Michael recovery, specifically. Under these rules, not only do policyholders now have an extra 90 days to submit their claims, but insurance companies are prohibited from canceling or failing to renew homeowners’ policies on homes damaged by Hurricane Michael for 90 days as well. In addition, Florida’s insurance regulator issued an emergency order that freezes any rate hike for 90 days in order to support recovery efforts in areas impacted by the Hurricane.

Hurricane Irma cost the state of Florida approximately 2 million visitors and a loss of $1.5 billion in visitor spending. According to analyses, most waterfront tourism destinations also saw dramatic declines in the days immediately before the hurricane hit, which must also be taken into account in determining total lost income due to the storm event.

These statistics indicate just how important it is for hurricane claim insurance companies to thoroughly compensate businesses for damages, including lost business income, especially as we start to prepare for the next hurricane season.

South Florida Hotels Hit Hard

Perhaps no business owners feel this loss more than South Florida hotels, some of which have still not reopened due to significant water damage. In the days before the storm hit, a lot was done to move everything that was outside inside, as well as take other precautions that undoubtedly interfered with guests staying there, including staff and guests evacuating the hotel. The storm did damage to guestroom buildings, spas, drywall, paint, carpeting, and furniture, leading to mold and mildew, and occupancy inevitably plummeted long after the storm passed.

In late May, Coastal Breeze News featured an important article discussing when homeowners have tried for long enough to settle their Hurricane Irma claims with their insurance carriers, and whether there has been insurance bad faith. Below, we discuss this issue in greater detail.

Florida Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights

Florida has what’s known as the Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights, which every insurance company providing residential property insurance policies must provide to homeowners within 14 days of receiving any initial communication related to a claim (with the exception of any “state of emergency” declared by the Governor).

Specifically, the Bill of Rights provides that you have the right to:

The Bill of Rights also provides a number of recommendations, including:

Note, however, that the Bill of Rights does not create a civil cause of action against an insurer. When an insurance company acts in bad faith, a separate law in Florida creates a statutory bad faith cause of action against the insurance company which allows homeowners to recover costs and attorneys’ fees if they prevail. Still, it is wise to work with an experienced attorney to first file a Civil Remedy Notice with the Florida Department of Financial Services that the insurance company is acting in bad faith.

According to recent reports, the top 20 property insurers in Florida were served with more than 10,000 lawsuits over hurricane Irma claim denials just between January and March, reflecting a more than 61 percent increase from last year.

Universal Property & Casualty Co.—Florida’s largest insurer—noted that the company has received close to 80,000 Hurricane Irma-related claims, including many from Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. In addition, Irma-related claims account for close to 60 percent of all new claim-related litigation filed against Citizens Property Insurance Co. (the second largest insurer in Florida).

Inadequate Recovery Also Remains an Issue

Not all of these claims involve outright denials; a good percentage also involve challenges to the companies’ decisions about the scope of damages, arguing that the amount paid to homeowners was inadequate. A good percentage also involved the determination that policyholders were owed nothing at all because the loss calculated did not surpass the policy deductible.

Florida is no stranger to hurricanes and storms, especially during the months of September and October. Unsurprisingly, Florida is also the third most expensive state for homeowners’ insurance coverage. According to Insurance.com, Florida’s average home insurance rate is nearly $1,338 higher than the national average.

Just because your homeowners’ insurance policy covers damages caused by a hurricane does not necessarily mean that your hurricane insurance claim will be successful. Since many homeowners do not understand how to navigate the insurance claims process and may deal with bad faith insurance practices, some of their mistakes may hurt their insurance claim.

5 Things Florida Homeowners Should Avoid When Filing a Hurricane Insurance Claim

There are certain things you, as a homeowner, should avoid in order to protect your legal rights and obtain the reimbursement you deserve as a homeowner whose property has been damaged or destroyed by a hurricane.