Fraud warnings sounded early
Governor DeSantis and CFO Patronis warn survivors of Hurricane Ian about fraud and unlawful contractor solicitation during a briefing in Ft. Myers on October 4, 2022. Courtesy, The Florida Channel
Less than 24 hours after Hurricane Ian made landfall, Governor DeSantis, CFO Jimmy Patronis, and local law enforcement authorities were warning the public about fraud and unlawful contractor solicitation they may encounter during the cleanup. There’s also news on the insurance villages set up to help residents with their damage claims, plus the latest thoughts on Ian’s impact on the Florida property insurance market.
Insurance Villages: I had the privilege of attending both the Ft. Myers and Port Charlotte insurance villages last week, where hundreds of survivors were able to personally visit with their insurance companies. One company direct deposited the full value of its policy into the homeowner’s bank account. Other participants, such as the national We Insure Agency, set up grills to cook hot meals for all who visited the Port Charlotte location, serving close to 1,000 meals a day. With FEMA co-locating with the private carriers in both locations, these truly offered one-stop convenience, especially the Ft. Myers location, which was located within a state Disaster Recovery Center, offering driver license and car title replacements printed on the spot, legal services, and health screenings. The Attorney General’s office had representatives to look into any reports of price gouging, too.
FEMA’s Efforts: FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as of Friday had issued more than $5.9 million in advance payments to Florida policyholders. They’re part of a waiver approved right after the storm that allows those with standard NFIP policies to get an advance of up to $5,000 for combined building and contents losses or up to $20,000 for those who can provide photographic evidence of claims and demonstrate proof of incurred out-of-pocket expenses.
President Biden during his October 5 visit to Florida, approved the Governor’s request to make additional disaster funding available to the state and extended the time period for 100% federal funding for an additional 30 days, giving Florida a total of 60 days at 100% for debris removal and emergency protective measures.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno warns fraudsters during the Governor’s Ft. Myers briefing on September 30, 2022. Courtesy, The Florida Channel
Fighting Fraud: The Governor made clear the day after landfall that “we’re not going to let bad actors exploit residents.” CFO Patronis warned residents about unscrupulous contractors (“locusts,” he called them – watch here) that risk complicating and delaying insurance storm claims. “Please, that first phone call that you’re going to make needs to be to either your agent or your carrier or to my office at 1-877-MY-FLCFO (1-877-693-5236). If one of the first three phone calls you make in your house in order to get your insurance claim solved is to one of those three, there’s almost zero chance you’re going to be taken advantage of,” Patronis said. Then this week, he reiterated the point, comparing would-be fraudsters to recent looters in the area who “want to take advantage of you and your insurance policy…run them off your property.” (You can watch here.) Patronis defended insurance companies, “who are here to write you a check.” His news release encourages those who see suspicious activity to call the Fraud Tip Hotline at 1-800-378-0445. Two of his anti-fraud teams were deployed in the Orlando and Tampa areas with an additional two teams each for Charlotte and Lee counties. They have made more than 1,700 engagements with the public on post-disaster fraud. Also fighting fraud is Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, who warned those who would take advantage of Ian survivors, “I guarantee you it’ll be swift incarceration immediately with no tolerance,” he said.
Insurance companies are doing their part, too. Carriers with aerial imagery capability have been taking aerial photos from fixed-wing aircraft of properties since Ian struck and in the days that followed. The photos document existing roof and other building damage from wind as well as any standing flood water around a home. These high-quality images will be used in evaluating incoming damage claims for coverage. Some companies have sent these pictures as a courtesy to their individual policyholders, especially useful to those who live out-of-state and may not be aware their Florida property is damaged or how badly. This should also serve to warn would-be fraudsters who may have ideas about creating roof or wall damage themselves in an attempt to try to show water damage came from above and is qualified damage from a homeowners policy, rather than from rising flood water and surge that without flood insurance, will not be covered. ICEYE, a satellite imagery firm, reported Monday that some 358,850 properties are in areas that were flooded by Ian, and about 13,363 saw water of five feet or more.
To improve the supply of contractors, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) issued an order allowing those outside of the 44 disaster counties to do repair work in those counties, without having to comply with county-specific licensing requirements. DBPR also activated its Disaster Contractors Network Florida (DCNOnline.org) an online service that connects homeowners to Florida licensed contractors and construction suppliers.
Insurance Regulation: The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) put out a FAQ on its Hurricane Ian emergency issued on September 28. The order temporarily suspends for two months planned policy cancellations or non-renewals by insurance companies. For those homeowners with damage, it similarly protects their policies for at least 90 days after the properties are repaired. The Order also covers deemers on property damage and suspends Use and File filings.
Senator Jeff Brandes
Ian’s Impact on the Florida Insurance Market: OIR works with insurance companies to strike a balance between risk and rates. But I believe that in Florida, in the case of state-backed Citizens Property Insurance, our rates have not matched the risk and this storm is going to expose that mismatch. State Senator Jeff Brandes has said he projects rates would go up at least another 30 percent,” a sentiment shared by some analysts. “I believe that reinsurance is obviously going to go up, too, but it’s not just because of the weather, a lot of it is the litigation that is in our state,” Brandes said.
It is a possibility that some insurance companies will not be able to weather the amount of claims volume from Ian, because you can try to estimate it and use models to predict it. But this storm probably was unpredictable. So our regulators will do all they can to help these companies stay with us and they’re doing all they can. But the unpredictability of this storm, no matter how accurate we try to be, it’s still a guess. And I’m not sure the guess was as accurate as it could be. We have some incredible catastrophe models that do everything they can but at the end of the day, Mother Nature’s in charge.
Governor DeSantis, in answer to a reporter’s question on the claims-paying ability of Florida insurance companies, said “Some of these companies I think there may be some problem. A lot of these big companies, you know, I think you should feel pretty comfortable.”
Disaster Relief Help Wanted: For those of you in the disaster recovery business that are looking for help with the cleanup and repair, the Department of Economic Opportunity offers the Disaster Recovery Jobs Portal where you can post a disaster recovery job. CareerSource Southwest Florida are alerted to the jobs and will make sure they are noticed by qualified job seekers in the area.
LMA Newsletter of 10-10-22
