A new report from Weiss Ratings says if you have Citizens home insurance, you're less likely to have your claims paid.
This means thousands of people who filed claims in the last year received nothing for their damages.
This report says Citizens Insurance now has the worst rate of paying claims statewide. In fact, it says Citizens received 17,000 claims last year and of those, just over 50% were denied.
That data comes from Citizens annual report .
Michael Peltier, a spokesman for the state-backed company, said the fact the company would deny a higher percentage of claims is not surprising.
“Our policies are in the riskiest areas of the state. We have a lot of policies in flood-prone areas,” Peltier noted.
He also said more denials are likely because many policyholders didn't reach their deductible, saying the company doesn't insure things like pool cages, which are often damaged in storms.
“We go through each claim individually. We base our decisions on the merit of the claim,” Peltier stressed.
Fort Myers independent insurance agent Doug Nellans, who owns the Insurancenter, said he is seeing a majority of claims often denied because they’re rushed.
He pointed to the state's Bill of Rights, which states companies have just 30 days to approve or deny a claim, even during a catastrophe
“If you have more claims than you have claims personnel to handle, and you're racing against the clock, and you're forced to confront this very difficult issue,” Nellans said.
He warns time can be an enemy for companies during a severe storm.
Warning time can be an enemy for companies.
“It's easy to offer a denial letter to buy themselves more time,” Nellans stated.
All of the news comes as Citizens is expecting more of its policies in the coming year. We don't know how many, and the company could not confirm that information.