Spring Hill Homeowner Battles Citizens Insurance Over Denied Vandalism Claim

Vandalism Claim Denial

• 🏠 A Spring Hill homeowner is in a dispute with Citizens Property Insurance after his vandalism claim, estimated at nearly $100,000, was denied.
• 💡 The homeowner, who has rented out properties for 15 years, had vandalism coverage specifically because of past issues with tenants.
• 🚫 Citizens Insurance denied the claim, stating the extensive damage was due to a botched remodeling job rather than vandalism by the tenants, one of whom was a contractor.

New Insurance Dispute Process

• ⚖️ Due to recent insurance reforms in Florida, Citizens Insurance no longer allows policyholders to sue in court for claim disputes.
• 🗂️ Instead, a forced mediation process, known as the DOA property insurance mediation program, is now mandatory.
• 📈 Investigations revealed that Citizens was winning 90% of these mediation hearings, raising concerns about fairness for policyholders.

Political and Corporate Response

• 🗣️ Congressman Maxwell Frost has questioned the inclusion of this forced mediation process in the law and Citizens' high win rate.
• 🤝 Citizens Property Insurance CEO defended the process, stating their goal is to avoid litigation for policyholder benefit and that they believe they are right when cases go to final hearing.
• ❓ The CEO also stated that Citizens works hard to ensure claims that need to be paid are paid.

Seeking Public Stories

• 📢 The report highlights the homeowner's struggle and encourages other Citizens policyholders facing similar issues with claim disputes or the forced mediation process to share their stories.
• 💻 Viewers can connect by scanning a QR code or visiting tampa b28.com/insurance to submit their experiences.