Perhaps because Florida’s Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier says claims solicitation is raising the cost of Florida’s property insurance industry for both consumer and provider insurers – frustrated by a lack of criminal prosecution of insurance fraud perpetrators, have taken to civil courts to deter crime by taking the profit out of the criminal schemes.
David Altmaier told lawmakers the losses insurance companies took in 2020 were almost a billion dollars, little over a billion dollars in underwriting losses for Florida’s domestic industry through the first three quarters of 2020, so “that’s not even a full year yet and we’ve almost doubled the underwriting losses from last year.”
Altmaier said, while lawsuits are a main driver-a growing issue is roofing claims. He reported that roofing claims do not appear to be normal roofing claims in which a consumer notices that they incurred a loss and calls their insurance company, but instead solicitations.