Volume 3 Number 22
May 29, 2006

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Hurricane season begins June 1. Another active hurricane season has been predicted and, while we can't control the weather, we can control its impact on our lives.

Take the opportunity now to stock up on supplies and prepare your home, your finances and your family.  Many of the items you need to be hurricane ready are now exempt from state and local sales taxes until June 1st. For a list of supplies that are exempt, visit the Florida Department of Revenue site http://www.myflorida.com/dor/.

Planning ahead greatly increases our ability to respond and recover from the devastation of a hurricane and that includes being financially prepared.

To help Florida families, we've created a Hurricane Toolkit to guide you through the steps of financial preparedness. The Hurricane Toolkit can be downloaded from our website or you can call us at 1-800-342-2762.

I'm also urging Floridians to check out our consumer Checklist, which we designed to help Floridians review and understand their insurance policy coverage.

You and your family's safety are a top priority for us. That is why we have created these special tools for you.

In service,

 

Information for Policyholders with Southern Families, Atlantic Preferred, Florida Preferred button

GALLAGHER SAYS FLORIDA PREFERRED POLICYHOLDERS WILL BE PROTECTED THIS HURRICANE SEASON

Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial officer, announced that policyholders with Florida Preferred Insurance Company will be protected this hurricane season because company officials finally agreed to let the financially-troubled property insurer enter into liquidation effective June 1.

“This decision is in the best interest of 140,000 Floridians who were covered by Florida Preferred and deserve protection,” said Gallagher, who petitioned a court on May 9 to put Florida Preferred into liquidation. “Our focus will now be getting the company’s outstanding claims resolved as quickly as possible.”

A hearing, set for May 30, was originally scheduled to deliberate the company’s refusal to liquidate Florida Preferred. Now that company officials have consented to liquidation, the hearing will focus on having the judge sign the consent to liquidation agreements for three financially-impaired insurers with Poe Financial Group, including Atlantic Preferred, Southern Family and Florida Preferred. CONTINUED


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 GALLAGHER URGES RESIDENTS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TAX SAVINGS AND PREPARE FOR HURRICANE SEASON

Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial officer and state fire marshal, is urging Floridians to take advantage of the Hurricane Preparation Tax Free Holiday, going on now until June 1 when the 2006 hurricane season begins. Gallagher also announced that the Department of Financial Services’ is offering a Hurricane Toolkit to help homeowners organize their financial information, so recovery can begin more quickly in the event of a disaster, along with a checklist they can use to review their insurance coverage with their agent.

Gallagher, who as CFO oversees the Department of Financial Services, oversees search and rescue operations as state fire marshal when the state’s Emergency Operations Center is activated .

“It is vitally important to take personal responsibility now by stocking up on supplies and preparing your home, your finances and your family,” Gallagher said.  “The more we prepare now, the quicker we will be able to respond and recover from any potential hurricane."  CONTINUED
 

 

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 UNCLAIMED PROPERTY SURPRISE STARTS DISCOVERY PROCESS FOR ORLANDO AREA

WESH 2 News in Orlando got to play the role of the Prize Patrol recently when reporter Michelle Meredith gave Nicholas Bavaro a check for $9,172.

The state's Bureau of Unclaimed Property found the windfall for Bavaro, printed his check and were gracious enough to let WESH 2 surprise him with it.

What is unclaimed property? It’s money or property that belongs to you, that you either didn’t know you had or plain forgot about. It's held over from old bank accounts, stocks and securities -- even insurance and utility companies. The holders of the property turn it over to the state's Department of Financial Services, Bureau of Unclaimed Property.

 WESH2 TV studio with Unclaimed Property specialists

Bavaro has some old stock money coming to him and he thought the check was in the mail. Instead, WESH 2 delivered it in person.

"That’s great, that’s cool. It will come in handy," he said. What does he plan to do with his money? He might use it to build a garage.

WESH 2 uncovered dozens of people in the Orlando area who have more than $10,000 coming to them. Check the state's unclaimed property Web site to see if you have forgotten money at www.fltreasurehunt.org.

In conjunction with delivering the check to Mr. Bavaro, Unclaimed Property specialists staffed six phone lines in the WESH 2 studio and in three hours almost 1,000 calls came in, with about 80 claims resulting in $54,218 to be returned to owners.

In the following days, the Bureau of Unclaimed Property in Tallahassee reported double the usual phone volume and about five times the number of visits to the internet site. In that time, 4,848 discoveries of unclaimed property by owners from the WESH  2 viewing area resulted in $1,707,180.89 in claims.

The largest amount on a single account found was $90,058.24.
The smallest amount on a single account was $0.03 and the number of accounts claimed over $10,000 totaled 27.

 

UNLICENSED PUBLIC ADJUSTING LEADS TO ARREST

CFO Tom Gallagher announced that Luis Gonzalez surrendered to a detective from the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud, and was charged with two counts of Acting as an Unlicensed Public Adjuster – a 3rd degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison per offense.  He was booked into Miami-Dade County Jail, where he remains pending the posting of $3,000 bond. 

The detective stated that in May 2005, under the name “Luis A. Gonzalez, Insurance Recovery Services, Inc.,” Gonzalez entered into agreements with two insureds who had suffered claims for mold and roof damage, and a kitchen fire, respectively.  Gonzalez agreed to a ten-percent fee to represent them as “attorney in fact” in dealing with the insurance companies regarding the claims.  Gonzalez identified himself as representing the insureds in subsequent communications with Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance Company.

His activities would have required him to be either a practicing attorney admitted by the Florida Bar, or a public adjuster licensed by the Florida Department of Financial Services.  Gonzalez is neither, and was charged as stated above.