RULE 690ER05-06, Mandatory Hurricane Claims Payment Requirements
It’s been over six months since five storms devastated our state, damaging one out of every five homes. Floridians, who responsibly paid their premiums on time, expect their claims to be settled and paid so they can start to rebuild their homes. I expect insurance companies to step up to the plate and resolve their outstanding claims.
To help accomplish this, I called for an emergency rule to expedite the resolution of open claims from last year’s tropical storm and four hurricanes. The Governor and the Cabinet approved it last Thursday.
I pursued this rule after hearing from over two thousand people at hurricane recovery town hall meetings around the state.
CFO Gallagher responds to consumers at the Orlando town hall meeting on March 19th.
Photo courtesy of Dave Kaiser,
Insurance Journal.
Under the emergency rule, insurers must settle and pay all outstanding personal residential claims and commercial residential claims resulting from Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan or Jeanne and Tropical Storm Bonnie no later than April 18, 2005. Claims not settled and paid by that date must be reported to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation by April 28, 2005. The report must contain the policyholder’s name, policy and claim number, and a detailed explanation of why the claim has not been settled and paid.
The rule mandates that outstanding claims be settled within the next 30 days unless the claim is being litigated, is awaiting mediation, or has been recently opened and loss estimates have not been received.
My goal is that this rule will prompt final action on outstanding claims and ensure that Floridians devastated from the storms can finish rebuilding before hurricane season starts June 1st.
Okeechobee County's historic courthouse, built in 1925, sits next to the county's new state-of-the-art courthouse scheduled to open this spring.
