The state of Florida is working toward establishing the Consumer Protection Act to help expedite insurance claims after a natural disaster.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis held a press conference, flanked by Sen. Tom Wright, who is sponsoring SB 1492, and Rep. Chuck Clemons, who is the sponsor of HB 1137. Together, the bills create the Consumer Protection Act, which will hold insurance companies responsible for paying claims within 90 days.

Patronis, who also serves as State Fire Marshal, said, “No longer should claims handling issues create delays as storm victims rebuild their homes and lives… The Consumer Protection Act will help us build a better, stronger Florida.”

According to InsuranceNewsNet.com, the Consumer Protection Act provides the following benefits:

• Provides consumers with more time to remove their obligations with public adjuster contracts in the event of a disaster;
• Makes sure Florida residents have all of the information regarding their insurance coverage limitations before hurricane season begins;
• Ensures all open claims are settled by insurance companies within 90 days;
• Penalizes unlicensed insurance agents and prevents companies from using the term “Medicare” in their company names in order to prevent fraud;
• Ensures customers receive a complete explanation when they are sent a partial payment or an estimate on repair coverage;
• Prevents Florida residents from having to pay certain fees and from having to pay taxes when their insurance company goes out of business.

Florida Deals with Mounting Insurance Claims

Floridians are still waiting for thousands of hurricane insurance claims from 2017 and 2018 to be resolved, according to an article at TheCenterSquare.com.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) shows that 11,401 claims remain open from Hurricane Michael that hit the Florida Panhandle with Category 5 hurricane winds on Oct. 10, 2018.

A total of 59,011 claims remain open in Florida from Hurricane Irma, which ravaged Florida at Category 4 strength on Sept. 10, 2017.

The combined number of claims from both storms numbered 1,152,594, according to FLOIR.

Predictions for the 2020 hurricane season anticipate another active year. Even though Florida lucked out when Dorian brushed the perimeter, the state may face more close calls or direct hits in the coming hurricane season. Personal property claims are apt to be covered by homeowners insurance and/or flood insurance.

According to TheLedger.com, Colorado State University said there’s a 45 percent chance for an above-normal hurricane season, based on initial analyzations of global climate patterns.

CSU’s report says that there’s a 21 percent chance a major hurricane will make landfall on Florida and a 51 percent chance a hurricane will hit the state at all in the 2020 season.

“No one can completely understand the full complexity of the atmosphere-ocean system but, it is still possible to develop a reliable statistical forecast scheme,” explains the report.

Now that the Consumer Protection Act has passed the first round of committee meetings, the Act may become a bill that’s passed into law by the time the next big storm looms on Florida’s horizon.