Weiss Scores, a Palm Seaside Gardens monetary scores agency, sparked some outrage from the Florida insurance coverage business in latest weeks after it released reports contending that a few of Florida’s largest property insurers had been closing virtually half of their hurricane claims with none funds and that some carriers had been close to collapse.
“Sadly, latest media tales and self-interested statements by some critics of the insurance coverage business have created confusion, main shoppers to imagine that property insurers are unjustly denying claims,” Michael Carlson, president of the Private Insurance coverage Federation of Florida stated in a press release in October.
Carlson argued that Weiss had ignored key explanation why many claims had not been paid, together with the truth that many claimed losses fell under the policyholders’ deductible, that a lot harm was from non-covered floodwaters, and that some components of properties weren’t coated by HO insurance policies, reminiscent of swimming pool cages.
Now, the Florida Workplace of Insurance coverage Regulation has taken up the baton.
The workplace this week issued a subpoena to the Weiss agency and its chief, Martin Weiss, Ph.D., demanding all the agency’s emails, texts and different information that assist its conclusions, the Tampa Bay Occasions and Miami Herald reported Friday.
“Given the urgency of your warning to shoppers, it’s essential to present these paperwork no later than November 30, 2024,” the letter from Deputy Commissioner Sheryl Parker reads.
Martin Weiss advised the newspapers that he was undecided if he would adjust to the subpoenas however added that regulators might have merely requested for his knowledge.
The uproar is not unlike that seen in 2022, when one other scores agency, Demotech, stunned many within the business when it warned that some 16 Florida carriers had been about to have their monetary stability scores downgraded.
Regulators, together with Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis, together with the Florida Affiliation of Insurance coverage Brokers, shortly launched sharply worded letters, questioning Demotech’s methodology and motives. Little got here of Demotech’s warnings: Most insurers maintained their monetary scores over the subsequent 12 months and a handful switched to utilizing one other score agency.
A number of insurance coverage executives and business advocates have maintained that monetary situations in Florida have improved considerably after 2022 and 2023 legislative modifications tamped down runaway claims litigation.
Related: Florida Citizens’ Brass Tired of ‘Clickbait’ News on its Hurricane Claims Denials
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