As Florida insurance companies were going bankrupt, policies were getting dropped and homeowners were being left empty-handed, a new report says many of those companies were making billions.
The report looked at 2017 through 2019, when the state's insurance market began falling apart.
The news is casting a dark shadow over home insurance in Florida. The report is being referred to as the smoking gun against the state's insurance industry, revealing that companies bled themselves dry and were unable to pay out claims.
Doug Quinn is the executive director for the American Policy Association and said the report calls for a criminal investigation and criminal enforcement.
The APA is a group that investigates insurance fraud and turns it over to prosecutors.
“They're crying poverty and raising rates. They're going under and leaving people, Florida policyholders twisting in the wind without insurance,” Quinn said.
He's reacting to a report commissioned by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, which reveals insurers paid $680 million in dividends to shareholders while funneling billions more to affiliated companies.
When asked what a motive would have been for companies to operate in that manner, Quinn responded, "Profit."
“We call it the Florida model. This is really a profit scheme,” Quinn stated.
The study's author said companies paid out so much money to those shareholders that they were too weak to pay out claims, leaving many policyholders high and dry.
Attorney John Morgan weighed in, expressing disgust over the report.
“A year ago, I predicted blue tarp DeSantisville communities would cover the state because DeSantis, Tom Leek and the rest of the Legislature decided to pad insurance CEOs' pockets instead of protecting homeowners," Morgan concluded all Florida homeowners got were blue tarps.
The state's Office of Insurance Regulation downplayed the report, saying, “The report does not clearly show where the capital was spent or concludes that all the monies were profit. The report does say additional oversight was needed.”
Insisting the report does not tell the entire story.
“If it just tells part of the story, it should have been part of the dialogue. It should not have been hidden,” Quinn noted after media outlets had requested it.
The state argues it has pushed for more oversight since the report. It insists the market is improving with 10 new companies operating in Florida since 2022, although rates for most homeowners remain high.