Jennifer Montero, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Florida’s insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens), has said that the region’s assignment of benefits (AOB) problem isn’t as much of an issue with hurricane claims.
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In recent times, Florida has suffered from an insurance claims abuse epidemic, known as AOB, which comes into play when an insured transfers the right to act as the insured to an entity such as a contractor.
This has typically been seen in cases of water and wind claims, with roofers, plumbers and remediation firms, for example, taking over the rights to a claim, which then results in their lawyers often chasing down insurers for higher figures.
However, in light of hurricane Irma, Citizens hasn’t witnessed an unusual increase in AOB related claims. One reason for this, suggests The Buckingham Research Group citing Montero and Kapil Bhatia, Head of Raymond James’ Insurance Advisory Group, is that when the insured return, the first call is to its insurer, over a repairman.
During an investor lunch hosted by The Buckingham Research Group with Montero and Bhatia, Citizens revealed that its gross loss from hurricane Irma was $1.2 billion, which translates to 70,000 policies being affected, and having already received some 60,486 claims.
