Do you sometimes wish you had someone to look after you? Someone who always has your back? If we had this guardian angel, how much easier would it be to avoid the rocks of life that we seem to navigate into or steer toward beautiful seas where fish abound?
Brian Goodman has acted as the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (NAPIA) Good Shepherd since taking over as General Counsel. Brian replaced the legendary Paul Cordish in 2000.
Goodman wrote an excellent editorial published in Palm Beach Post, Public adjusters are not the problem in Florida’s home insurance crisis. He stated:
There has been much discussion and legislative activity to ostensibly protect Florida insureds after major storm damage to their property. Much blame has been assigned by the insurance industry, as well as some lawmakers and insurance regulators, to public adjusters. But the facts are clear that this debt is misplaced.
Public adjusters are fully licensed in Florida as well as in 45 other states. They are the only licensed professionals under the regulatory control of each state̵
7;s insurance department who can legally assist an insured in preparing and presenting property damage claims to the insured’s homeowners or commercial insurance companies.…
Many comments have been made about public adjusters preying on vulnerable insureds in times of crisis. Both the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters and the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters have a strict code of ethics that prohibits this type of misconduct. When officials refer to public adjusters as “grasshoppers” after a disaster, or when the industry takes positions on the need to protect consumers from unscrupulous public adjusters, it’s important to note that facts and statistics undercut their arguments.
For example, from June 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021, official statistics confirm 24,000 complaints in Florida against business adjusters or independent adjusters working for insurance companies compared to only 200 complaints against public adjusters during the same time frame. A more recent report by WFLA-TV in Tampa reports that 4,700 claimants filed claims against insurance companies after Hurricane Ian, and a major investigation published on March 11, 2023 in The Washington Post found that insurance companies deliberately reduced Hurricane Ian payments far below damage estimates, sometimes by more than 80%.
The statistics Goodman cites are supported by public records. IN Florida Public Records Prove Insurance Companies Abuse Policyholders – How About Enacting Laws That Allow Consumers To Do Something About It? I noticed:
I have public records showing that from September 2017 to November 2022, consumers filed 99 complaints about public adjusters. Guess how many complaints were filed against insurance companies during the same period? 105,000 Florida consumer complaints filed against insurance companies.
With proven public statistics of 99 to 105,000, I bet you’d think Florida’s Republican leadership would write a bunch of laws cracking down on insurance company malpractice and allow more lawsuits to be filed against these wrongful and cheating insurance companies, right? But exactly the opposite happens.
…
Facts are facts—99 vs. 105,000. The Legislature is now using the smallest 99 complaints as a basis for wrongfully changing public ombudsman laws while turning a blind eye to the 105,000 insurance company malpractice complaints and making it more difficult for policyholders to obtain redress for those complaints.
The insurance industry should take the proverbial stick out of their eye before they blame public insurance adjusters for anything. Policymakers and regulators must first address the insurers’ woeful claims handling, which is a scourge for Florida policyholders, rather than inventing scapegoats. Brian Goodman’s editorial makes that point.
Today’s thought
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.
—George Bernard Shaw
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