Florida's Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher announced today that in response to Hurricane Wilma he has again issued an emergency rule capping public adjuster fees at 10 percent of any claim payment.
He said his department is also deploying mobile units in the state to help consumers.
The emergency regulation, which Mr. Gallagher also promulgated during last year's hurricane season, gives consumers up to 14 days to rescind a contract with a public adjuster without penalty. Under the rule public adjusters cannot demand compensation prior to the settlement of the claim.
Mr. Gallagher's announcement noted that he imposed the same cap on fees and ban on upfront payments last year in response to reports that some public adjusters were demanding fees of as much as 25 percent of any claim payment.
In the wake of Hurricane Wilma, he said, "South Floridians have experienced some serious damage, and we are going to do all we can to further protect them during the recovery period."
Mr. Gallagher warned consumers to make sure they deal with public adjusters who have a license. He noted that last year, detectives with the department's Division of Insurance Fraud arrested seven persons acting as public adjusters without licenses.
Public adjusters are not affiliated with any insurance company and are hired by the consumer to represent them and pursue their claims with an insurer.
Mr. Gallagher said two mobile assistance units have been sent to southeast and southwest Florida to help hurricane victims begin the recovery process. The mobile units are staffed with the Department of Financial Services' consumer specialists who can help Wilma-affected residents reach their insurance companies, start the claims process and understand what steps they should take.
"So many Floridians were impacted because of the wide path of destruction caused by Wilma, and we are here to help," said Mr. Gallagher, who was on-hand for the opening of the mobile response unit in Plantation, Fla.
In Broward County, the mobile response unit is now open for operation in Plantation, and in Collier County, the unit is set up in in Naples.
The units provide the use of cellular phones, computers and other information resources to allow staff to help victims contact their insurance companies, file claims, get answers to questions they may have about their policies, and verify licensure of adjusters. The mobile unit hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.