Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company received a judgment in Boca Raton, FL for damages totaling $350,000. Jurors found that Universal improperly denied a claim for damages to a continuous tile flooring. Homeowner, Elliot Sterns, discovered that his continuous tile flooring was tenting. Tenting is term used to described what happens to tile flooring when…Continued
Another Florida insurance carrier is declared insolvent. On March 4th 2022, a petition was filed to approve an order making the Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) the appointed receiver for Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Company (“Avatar”). Avatar stopped writing new policies in Florida sometime in February of 2022. Just a few weeks earlier, St.…Continued
A recent lawsuit filed in Florida alleges that the insurance company, United Property and Casualty, demanded that field adjuster’s reports be altered to ensure a denial or to reduce claims. The lawsuits states in part: 29. Instead of ensuring that field adjusters created honest, accurate reports to confirm that UPC’s insured received an assessment that…Continued
Carriers are now adding a special endorsement on most Replacement Cost Value policies that limit water damage, of any kind, to $10,000.00. This means if you have a broken pipe, toilet backup, or water system failure (e.g., broken water tank, damaged cast iron pipes, AC leak) in your home or property and it floods, despite…Continued
As a homeowner, there are aspects of having insurance that may remain mystifying. This may include understanding the policy terms and perhaps most notably, figuring out why it is that your policy becomes costlier each year. These increases often happen even if you’ve never once had to make an insurance claim. Why is that? The…Continued
In case you missed the news, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. made headlines late last month when it announced its intentions to raise residential insurance rates by just over eight percent beginning in September. While its Board of Governors were not pleased with having to bump up rates, the blame for the rate hikes was placed…Continued
Hopefully, there will never come a time when a major disaster strikes your home. Yet as we all know, life and Mother Nature are unpredictable and disaster can strike at any moment. Besides having enough homeowners insurance coverage for your home, it’s also important to have a home inventory. If you haven’t…Continued
When you purchased your homeowner’s insurance policy, how closely did you examine the fine print? You may be oblivious to the presence of a “right to repair” clause which, unbeknownst to many homeowners, allows companies a large degree of control over your home. Take for example a Palm Beach homeowner who was dealing with a…Continued
Hurricane season begins in less than two months which reinforces the importance of knowing what to do in the event a major storm strikes South Florida. As opposed to explaining what steps homeowners should take, let’s explore some that should not be taken. Don’t wait. When a major storm damages multiple homes, you can expect…Continued
With four major storms during the past three years (one of those being a highly dangerous category five), a AAA survey shows that just over ninety percent of Floridians are considerably concerned about the 2019 hurricane season. Despite the uptick in concerned Florida homeowners versus last year, the increased fears may not be spurring homeowners…Continued
