Hurricane Claims from ’05 in Florida Still Unresolved

There are still hundreds of homeowners staring at yet-to-be-repaired damage and wrangling with their insurers over unresolved claims nearly three years after the storms of 2005 hit South Florida.  
  
Meanwhile there's a rush to the courthouse to meet a June 2 deadline to wrap up claims filed by homeowners once covered by the Poe Financial Group companies, which failed in June 2006. Claims need to be resolved, or lawsuits filed, by that date.  
  
The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, the state agency handling the Poe claims, had some 3,100 open claims earlier this month. The agency has added staff in an effort to clear as many claims as possible.  
  
"We have really put out an effort to get them resolved," says Michelle Lovern, FIGA's executive director.  
  
To be sure, the insurance industry dealt with a mountain of claims from the hurricanes of 2005: 1.2 millions claims were reported, with 23,000 of those total losses. Nearly $10 million was paid out through 2007.  
  
But open claims persist against most insurers, not just the defunct Poe companies.  
  
"It's amazing how busy we are. We get 15 new clients a week," said Paul Berger, a Boca Raton attorney who represents homeowners in cases against their insurers. "At this point, I expected to be doing just some leftover litigation."  
  
Citizens Property Insurance has about 509 claims in litigation and has been running with about 3,000 open claims at any one time during the past 18 months. Citizens, the state-run insurer, is Florida's largest insurer of homes, condos, apartments and mobile homes with more than 1.2 million policies on its books.  
  
The company said these are mostly claims that have been reopened or new ones filed well after the 2005 storms.  
  
Bruce Douglas, chairman of Citizens' board of governors, says as the company whittles down the unresolved claims, more are opened. "It's a major problem."  
  
Allstate has a small number of open claims and doesn't know how many are in litigation at this point, says Adam Shores, a company spokesman. It paid $721 million in 103,000 claims from Wilma.  
  
It's not unusual to see some claims reopened: replacement or rebuilding costs could be higher than initially estimated and homeowners file a supplemental claim to cover the additional costs.  
  
However, State Farm Insurance finds it puzzling that it's still seeing new Hurricane Wilma claims being filed. "We're seeing about 100 new claims a week," said company spokesman Chris Neal.  
  
Insurers contend that some homeowners are encouraged to file new claims or reopen existing claims by public adjusters who promise them higher settlements.  
  
The reason for disputes and reopened claims is stingy settlements, said Berger and other attorneys. In many cases, the dispute is over roof damage. "Ninety-five percent of my clients were paid for partial repairs when they needed a full replacement," Berger said.  
  
Settlements could come a bit quicker for homeowners in the future because lawmakers have changed the state's insurance code. A bill passed earlier this month will require insurers to pay the undisputed portion of a claim within 90 days. If not, homeowners can sue their insurance companies for bad faith. This is a crucial consumer protection in what's a massive insurance reform bill waiting for Gov. Charlie Crist's signature.