A recent opinion of Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals involving a Hurricane Wilma homeowner’s claim has a rather startling decision, and not a good one for the policyholder side. The case Hunt v. State Farm highlights the need for policyholders to pay close attention to their claim, their insurance policy language and any communication they receive…
Here is an insurance claim question that we recently were asked to weigh in on as a contributing member of insurance claim experts for United Policyholders who advocates for property owners. Q. My shower pan or the drain was leaking slowly. I had a piece of carpet over the carpet at the door of the shower and did…
Over the past few weeks we have discussed the increasing activity of the practice of public adjusting without a license and some restoration contractors (some licensed and some who are not) putting “Assignment of Benefit” clauses into their contracts that basically sign over a policyholder’s entire insurance claim proceeds to them. First, let me say…
I was very sorry to read in the South Florida Business Journal about the untimely passing of Attorney Gary Poliakoff. Gary Poliakoff was a giant in the field of shared community and condominium living. Along with his partner Allen Becker, they founded Becker & Poliakoff headquartered in Ft Lauderdale Florida that over the years has become a…
Our blog of August 5, The Unlicesed Practice of Public Adjusting – The Claims Keep Rolling In continues to receive comments from many viewpoints and we appreciate the feedback and dialogue in hopes of responsibly addressing the issue. In an attempt to give fair and balanced coverage to the issue, we publish below a comment from Mr.…
As public adjusters, we typically focus on helping our clients get a fair settlement for their claim based on the insurance policy in place. However, a recent article Yet another costly mistake Florida has made about homeonwers insurance points out that 8 years into a long period of no major storms in Florida, we continue to see…
As we’ve reported to you on this blog, Citizens Insurance of Florida is allow by the legislature to play by different rules. For example, they are exempt from bad faith laws that other private insurance companies must follow. That sometimes means it allows them to act in ways that are not in the best interest…
Last week when I published the blog: The Unlicensed Practice of Public Adjusting, the Insurance Claims Keep Rolling In I apparently hit a nerve with a number of professionals from various parts of the property insurance industry that sent some very helpful comments that I’d like to share. Hopefully this may get a dialogue going that addresses…
You can bet at any gathering of a group of Florida licensed public adjusters, the conversation will start off with the question of how many Florida public adjusters currently exist. No question about it, Florida saw an explosion in the ranks of the public adjusting profession since the big four storms of 2004, as compared…
Here is an insurance claim question that we recently were asked to weigh in on as a contributing member of insurance claim experts for United Policyholders who advocates for property owners. Q. We received a question from a North Carolina consumer regarding a roof replacement due to windstorm damage. The carrier is claiming that only a “spot-repair” is…