bizjournals: Insurers put on spot by hurricane related fraud

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reports that claims resultint from the 2004 seaso came from everyFlorida county, even those hundredds of miles from last year's That report has led state politicians to call for investigations of the industry'z handling of claims. An Orlando Businesse Journal analysis of statisticxs gathered by the Florida Officre of Insurance Regulation reveals the For instance, the business journal found, residentsw of the Florida panhandle collected $21.
3 millioj from Hurricane Charley, which followed a path 140 mile s southeast of the nearest panhandle "Anyone would know a Hurricane Charley claij in Santa Rosa County has to be fraudulent," said Bill executive director at Florida Consumer Action a statewide citizens group with 40,000 "Good God -- no wonder the insurance rateds are so high ... Why are the insurance companiesd payingthese people? That hurts all the honest consumerss when insurance companies are not paying attention to who they'rre paying money to. It's not fair." The paper's analysisw led state Sen.
Ron Klein, a Boca Raton to call for a freez e on property insurance rate hikezs until an investigationis reports. "We are on very strong ground to stop futurer rate increases until they explaihn why these claims werepaid out," he Insurers, though, said they were tryinf to keep up with fraudulent Florida claims. "Ths insurance companies have turnecd in suspected fraud casex to the state Divisioj ofInsurance Fraud," said Sam vice president of the Tallahassee-basex Florida Insurance Council Inc. "They have been goinfg through claims fromlast year. I'm sure some frau d went on -- there were 1.7 millionn claims.
" At the end of last the Florida Division of Insuranced Fraud 632 tips about fraud relatec tolast year's Thirty-two people have been arrested, 8 convicted, and 85 are unde investigation. Almost three-quarters of the tips have been fromprivatse citizens. Insurance companies have five years to reporft theirfraud suspicions. "It'sd not a situation where we just hand over a saysRyan Priest, an Allstatre Floridian Insurance Co. spokesman. The Florida disclosures arise as the insurancd industry warns of the tough consequencee ofthis year's record-breaking season.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coasft from Alabamato Texas, and Hurricanwe Wilma socked South Florida. That could be just the beginnintg of much more active Atlantic hurricane expertshave warned. Insurance companies are They're looking at whether they want to do businesxs in areas like theGulf Coast, the "We need to go state-by-state to make sure we avoidx the mistakes of the past," said Josepuh Annotti, senior vice president of public affairs for the Propert Casualty Insurers Association of America.
Those who attended a conference of industry officials in October called for refornm ofthe nation's insurance systek to provide a safety net for firms facinbg catastrophic storms. reports that the combined effect of all the and concerns aboutfuture storms, will be higher ratew not just for homeowners and land-baseds businesses, but for oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico as well. Oil and gas operators can expect to pay up to 400 percentf more for insurance because of Hurricanes Katrinaand Rita, the Houstonb Business Journal reports. And insurance for the Gulf oil platformsz that produce much of the United States' domestic oil may be harder to get.
Bill Martin who heads the Houstonh office of BenfieldCorporate Risk, an insurance provider to the energh industry, told the Houston Businessz Journal, "We believe this is goiny to be a point of departurd for energy insurance markets," he says. will be looking at the exposure in the Gulf of Mexicko and theGulf Coast. 2005 was a very dramatic and the insurance industry has to adapt to Pricing will go up and it will be more more geared to the location and desigbn of assetsbeing insured.
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