Tennessee Eyes Claims Denials, Florida Offers to Check Contracts with Adjusters in Wake of Hurricanes

Officials in two Southeastern states have taken steps to hold insurers or recipients of insurance funds accountable after Hurricanes Helene and Milton spurred thousands of insurance claims.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance reminded insurance carriers that they must soon report information about claims stemming from Hurricane Helene, which brought severe flooding to the eastern part of the state. Insurers should report the data through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, in six monthly reports starting Nov. 5.

The data call applies to all property and casualty insurers in the state, including surplus lines carriers and those that write excess flood coverage. The spreadsheet information should be submitted through the NAIC data collection portal, Insurance Commissioner Carter Lawrence said in his Oct. 17 bulletin.

If a company has multiple insurers within a holding company group, it is not necessary to complete a spreadsheet for each insurer, the bulletin said. Instead, the holding company group should aggregate the information into one spreadsheet and provide a list of those insurers within the group for which information is being aggregated.

Surplus lines insurance companies should submit information on an individual company basis. If there is a surplus lines insurer within a group, the group should exclude the surplus lines insurer from the aggregated report and submit the surplus lines insurer’s information separately.

Tennessee’s attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti also warned insurers that his office will be scrutinizing claims denials.

“While we are hopeful and expect that insurance companies will uphold their end of the bargain by paying legitimate claims and doing so in a timely manner, as attorney general, we will work hand in hand with the TDCI to bring action to bad actors who fail to do so,” Skrmetti said in a statement.

Tennessee consumers who believe they have been wrongfully denied a claim by their insurance company or have another issue with an insurance agent or company can file a complaint online, by phone, or by mail. More information is available by calling (615) 741-2218 or 1-800-342-4029.

In Florida, the state’s chief financial officer announced a new service by his department that will check policyholders’ contracts with public adjusters, roofing contractors and other restoration companies.

The “Check My Contract” program will attempt to ensure that contracts between homeowners and vendors comply with orders and rules in place during declared emergencies; if the agreements constitute price gouging; if they include the required notice that consumers can rescind a contract after a catastrophe; and if the contracts involve assigments-of-benefits, CFO Jimmy Patronis and his Department of Financial Services said in a bulletin.

Florida lawmakers outlawed AOBs in 2022 in an effort to curb excessive claims litigation. If a contract is identified as an unlawful AOB, the consumer will receive a notice informing them that it is void, invalid, and unenforceable, the bulletin reads.

“This is an extraordinary service that Mr. Patronis is introducing, and we hope you find it helpful as you work with contractors and professionals during the claims process,” People’s Trust Insurance noted in an email to policyholders this week.

Patronis has repeatedly warned about the threat of fraudulent actors after hurricanes, and the new program is another tool consumers can use to protect themselves, the Florida Association of Insurance Agents’ B.G. Murphy wrote in a blog post.

As of Tuesday, Oct. 29, Florida property insurers reported more than 257,700 claims resulting from Hurricane Milton. Some 31,345 have been closed with payment, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

About 2,147 were closed without payment because the damage was due to flood or storm surge that was not covered by property insurance, and 9,000 were closed because the damage was determined to be below the insured’s deductible level.

Top photo: Natasha Ducre surveys the kitchen of her devastated home, which lost most of its roof during Hurricane Milton, in Palmetto, Florida. Ducre, her husband, three children and two grandkids rode out the storm in a government shelter and returned to find their home unlivable and much of their furniture and belongings destroyed by rainwater. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell).

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