Brianna Sacks of the Washington Post is already far ahead of Ron DeSantis and Jimmy Patronis when it comes to investigating and disclosing Florida’s insurance company claims corruption. After Donald Trump called out Desantis for being in bed with the “globalist” insurance industry and selling out Floridians, it was reported that DeSantis called for an investigation into these wrongful claims act violations.
An article, Insurance Companies Under Investigation in Florida For Alleged Fraud, Governor Confirms, noted:
Three months after allegations surfaced in Tallahassee concerning South Florida insurance carriers altering insurance adjusters’ reports, Florida’s home insurance crisis is now at the center of a state investigation.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the probes.
In Fort Myers last Friday, the governor was asked at a press conference for an update on comments made in front of the chairman of the House Commerce Committee in December.
DeSantis’ reply: ‘The reports of people getting shortchanged or getting unlawfully dropped because someone was looking to make more money, the insurance regulation office is investigating that. … They need to be held accountable, and I know they will be aggressively doing it.’
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis confirmed criminal investigations are now underway.
I wonder how those star-studded investigators from Florida’s Department of Financial Services are doing with the investigation? I hope they are having better success than when they famously fumbled with their investigation, which found that yours truly did not have a Florida law license, as noted in Chip Merlin Busted By Florida Insurance Investigators!
Unlike the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other serious police investigators who ask the public for tips and leads, the DeSantis/Patronis investigation seems to be doing a top secret investigation. That seems odd if they truly are looking for evidence of insurance company claims misconduct.
In this morning’s post, Does the Insurer in California Have Any Liability When It Suggests or Recommends a Contractor for the Repair Work?, I noted the important role of passionate and professional property insurance adjusters. My impression is that the vast majority of property insurance adjusters if trained and motivated to promptly pay full policy benefits by claims management, would do so. The problem is that they are prevented from doing so by claims management.
While I am optimistic that state investigators will conduct a good faith investigation exposing what everybody seems to know is going on with Florida property insurance claims, my bet is that Brianna Sacks, all by herself, will find a lot more claims management corruption than DeSantis/Patronis. I think she will expose more because ethical property claims adjusters are fed up with their claims managers imposing techniques and processes which frustrate full and prompt indemnity payments. Those ethical property insurance adjusters know they can safely whistleblow by contacting a newspaper reporter who is seeking the truth about why so many Floridians are suffering from delayed and denied insurance claims.
Who would you bet on?
Afternoon Thought
A reporter’s ability to keep the bond of confidentiality often enables him to learn the hidden or secret aspects of government.
—Bob Woodward
