An investigation is underway right now in Florida to determine whether insurance companies hid profits while going bankrupt.
Gulf Coast News first told you about this report last week. Now, it's got the attention of state lawmakers.
The concern is whether homeowners faced massive premium hikes because some Florida insurance companies justified losses during the hurricanes.
It's a scandal now rocking the state’s insurance market.
Fort Myers Insurance Agent Doug Nellans called the matter a hot topic in the insurance industry.
“It's understandable that parties on both sides are going to want to get to the bottom of it and get real answers,” Nellans said.
The 2022 report claims companies justified premium hikes on policyholders to cover losses after executives distributed $680 million in dividends to shareholders and diverted billions to affiliates.
Mark Friedlander with the Insurance Information Institute said the report had no validity.
“There is no wrongdoing by insurers in this situation,” Friedlander said.
However, when asked whether he believed stockholders received large dividends, he said he couldn’t say that.
“I don't have access to the financial statements of every company that operates in the state of Florida,” Friedlander said.
Doug Quinn with the American Policy Association said he's seen enough to warrant an investigation and said anybody who runs a clean operation has nothing to fear.
However, he suspected that won't be the case in this matter.
“Senior citizens on a fixed budget, working-class families who are struggling to put food on their table are having money hijacked out of their pockets to feed these fat cat corporate executives,” Quinn said.
A claim Republican House Speaker Daniel Perez said Florida's Insurance and Banking Subcommittee will get to the bottom of.
“I think the people of Florida should have the ability to look into it and read it themselves,” Perez said.
There is no timeline on how long this investigation could take. Members of the subcommittee will be allowed to issue subpoenas, interview witnesses under oath and hire experts.