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Do you generally want that you just had any person watching out for you? Somebody that all the time has your again? If we had this Guardian Angel, how a lot simpler would it not be to keep away from the rocks of life we appear to navigate into or steer in direction of honest seas the place fish are plentiful?
Brian Goodman has acted because the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (NAPIA) Good Shepherd since he took over as common counsel. Brian changed the legendary Paul Cordish in 2000.
Goodman wrote a superb editorial revealed within the Palm Beach Post, Public Adjusters Aren’t The Problem in Florida’s Property Insurance Crisis. He said:
There has been a lot dialogue and legislative exercise designed to ostensibly defend Florida insureds after main storm harm to their property. Much blame has been assigned by the insurance coverage trade, in addition to some legislators and insurance coverage regulators, in direction of public adjusters. But, the information are clear that this blame is misplaced.
Public adjusters are absolutely licensed in Florida in addition to in 45 different states. They are the one licensed professionals coming below the regulatory management of every state’s insurance coverage division who can legally help an insured in making ready and presenting property harm claims to the insured’s house owner or business insurance coverage service.
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Much commentary has been made on public adjusters preying on weak insureds in occasions of disaster. Both the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters and the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters have a stringent code of ethics prohibiting any such misconduct. When officers check with public adjusters as ‘locusts’ after a disaster, or when the trade places forth positions on the necessity to defend shoppers from unscrupulous public adjusters, it is very important be aware that the information and statistics undermine their argument.
For occasion, official statistics from June 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2021 affirm 24,000 complaints in Florida towards firm adjusters or unbiased adjusters working for insurance coverage corporations as in comparison with solely 200 complaints towards public adjusters in the identical timeframe. A newer report from WFLA-TV in Tampa studies 4,700 claimants filed complaints towards insurers put up Hurricane Ian, and a significant investigation revealed on March 11, 2023 in The Washington Post discovered that insurers knowingly slashed Hurricane Ian funds far under harm estimates, at occasions by greater than 80%.
The statistics Goodman cited are supported by public paperwork. In Florida Public Records Disclosures Prove Insurance Companies Are Mistreating Policyholders—What About Making Laws Allowing Consumers To Do Something About It? I famous:
I’ve public information which present that from September 2017 by way of November 2022, shoppers filed 99 complaints about public adjusters. Guess what number of complaints have been filed towards insurance coverage corporations throughout that very same interval? 105,000 Florida shopper complaints have been filed towards insurance coverage corporations.
With confirmed public document statistics of 99 versus 105,000, I wager you’d assume the Florida Republican management can be writing plenty of legal guidelines cracking down on insurance coverage firm misconduct and permitting extra lawsuits to be filed towards these wrongful and dishonest insurance coverage corporations, proper? But simply the other is going on.
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Facts are information—99 versus 105,000. The legislature is now utilizing the minimal 99 complaints as a foundation to wrongfully change public adjuster legal guidelines whereas closing its eyes to the 105,000 complaints towards insurance coverage firm misconduct and making it harder for the policyholders to acquire redress for these complaints.
The insurance coverage trade ought to take the proverbial stick out of its eye earlier than blaming public insurance coverage adjusters for something. Politicians and regulators should first handle insurance coverage corporations’ woeful claims processing, which is a plague upon Florida policyholders, relatively than making up scapegoats. Brian Goodman’s editorial makes that time.
Thought For The Day
Beware of false data; it’s extra harmful than ignorance.
—George Bernard Shaw