Insurance Claims Handling Leads to Fines
State regulators finalized agreements requiring 3 more property insurers to pay fines because of violating claims-handling laws after Hurricanes Ian and Idalia.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — State regulators have finalized agreements requiring additional property insurers to pay fines because of violating claims-handling laws after Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Idalia.
Documents posted on the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation website show that agreements known as “consent” orders, which were signed in August, required American Mobile Insurance Exchange to pay $400,000; Monarch National Insurance Co. to pay $325,000; and Tower Hill Prime Insurance Co. to pay $250,000.
The Office of Insurance Regulation earlier had posted consent agreements requiring American Coastal Insurance Co., TypTap Insurance Co. and Sutton National Insurance Co. to pay fines over claims-handling violations.
The American Mobile and Monarch fines stem from Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Idalia, while the Tower Hill fine resulted from Ian, according to the documents.
As examples of the violations, officials found that American Mobile in numerous instances did not provide proper disclosure statements to customers related to preliminary or partial estimates of damage and to payments that were not full payments on claims, according to the American Mobile consent order.
As other examples, officials found that Monarch and Tower Hill in certain instances did not pay or deny claims within a required 90 days.
“We are watching what companies do, all the time,” state Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky told The News Service of Florida on Tuesday. “We take it extraordinarily seriously. We want the contracts that consumers have made with these companies to be enforced and for consumers to be made whole when the circumstances require it.”
Hurricane Ian hit Florida in 2022, while Hurricane Idalia hit in 2023.
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