Posted On: August 2, 2007, 7:13 am CDT

Posted By: Fla. Agent

Your situation is validation of the "I'm from the governmant and I'm here to help."

It was reported yesterday that Citizens had recently closed some 1,000 claims from the '04 & '05 storm seasons. Not to mention the fact that Citizens failed miserably in '04 & '05 - which led to a major restructuring of the program and some personnel. It was in all the papers.

One question: Why didn't you take advantage of the mediation process the State implemented after the '04 season?

I know of several companies that paid their wind claims fairly and equitably.
If you attended any of Commissioner Gallagher's town hall meetings after the '04 season, the majority of the consumer complaints were about many of the same carriers whose names are associated with the post Katrina fall-out in the gulf states.

For the record, redlining is a practice of socio-economic discrimination. Availability (or the lack there of)through the private market was due to carriers having reached their capacity in your area, as well as issues with sink holes. Every sink hole claim is a $5,oo0 to $8,000 hit just to bring in engineers and soil experts to determine whether the claim is valid or not. And more imes than not, the problem was settlement of the foundation / slab. Not a gaping hole in the ground. So your lack of market availability was compounded by your greedy neighbors and trial lawyers, looking to make a fast buck off their insurance carriers.

Given your former location (I suspect either Pasco or Hernando Counties)and the minimal wind impact in that area from Hurricane Charley, the failure of your roof was in all likelyhood due to poor workmanship and/or materials. You mention that your home was two years old. Was it constructed under the Florida Building Code? If so, you shouldn't have had any problems - if it was properly constructed.

To denegrate an entire industry because of your experience with an underfunded and poorly managed state run program indicates (to me) that while you may consider yourself informed / educated on the issue, your comments simply validates the old addage, "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing." I will conceed that you are indeed a "dangerous" consumer.

Sorry about your loss.