2023
Overwhelmed and Under-staffed: The Florida Home Insurance Hotline
Jim Jenkins / 0 Comments /The Florida Home Insurance Hotline was set up decades ago to help people across Florida with their insurance company concerns and complaints. It’s often the first call for Florida insurance policyholders who need help when battling an insurance company. Many of the callers reach out for help because they are dealing with a delay, underpayment, or denial in connection with their home insurance claim.
The purpose of the hotline is to allow a homeowner to address concerns and complaints. It’s a service where you can:
- make a complaint against your insurer
- resolve an insurance dispute
- ask questions about your rights as an insurance customer
- discuss difficulties settling your homeowner’s insurance claim or an improperly settled claim
Statistics show that the last year, the hotline dealt with over 600 calls per day. Complaints about an insurance company come from either the state’s website (2/3) or the hotline (1/3).
Enshrined in law
The toll-free insurance consumer helpline (877-MY-FL-CFO) is enshrined in state law under the Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights. Insurers are required under state law to inform homeowners of the Bill of Rights, including the hotline, within 14 days of receiving a claim.
Overwhelmed and understaffed
But here’s the worrying thing: the hotline is simply overwhelmed with callers and is currently only open to callers for 3 hours a day.
That means that people who are in real need to support are calling the hotline and hearing the following message: “In order to better serve all of our customers, our updated insurance helpline hours are 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.”
In other words, you can’t even call on your lunch break.
So why is it only open 3 hours a day, you might ask? The cutback in the hotline hours is due to:
- A sharp rise in complaints against property insurance companies since Hurricane Ian in 2022. The hotline was inundated with people saying that their claims had been delayed by insurance companies.
- Staffing shortages at the Department of Financial Services. At present, over half of the roles that cover taking calls and handling complaints are vacant.
At Jenkins Law, we think that’s simply not good enough, and we know that you deserve so much better. We represent residential and commercial policyholders in property claims against their insurance carriers.
Tale as old as time
Day after day we receive calls from hardworking Florida homeowners who have done everything right but are still getting the runaround.
Our clients have taken the time to review their home insurance policy, paying attention to coverage, and exclusions, and shopping around for the best possible rates while also dealing with increased home insurance premiums. They took care of the insurance paperwork for their home and business and even prepared an inventory of what was there. They thought – understandably- that they were covered.
Then, their home or business suffered an unpredictable and unfortunate event, such as a hurricane, flood, or fire. They were left with devastating damage to their home’s structure, roof, windows, or flooring. Suddenly, their well-maintained and much-loved home or business had a leaking roof or mold,
“Well,” they thought, “as terrible as this is, at least I have insurance.”
Next came the battle. The endless phone calls. The lowballing, the delays, and the denials. The waiting by the phone for an update that never comes. The frustration.
Finally, they called us, exhausted but determined. And we listened. And we fought. And we won.
The team at Jenkins Law PL has the compassion and legal knowledge to help you if you’ve got a homeowners insurance battle on your hands.
When you need help, we’re standing by.
