AP: Overpayments by Citizens Property for hurricane damage alleged

[ryban]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A legislator called Tuesday for an audit on hurricane claims paid by Citizens Property Insurance, saying he's concerned about more than $22 million paid to policy holders in Miami-Dade County, which had relatively light damage in last year's storms.

Sen. Ron Klein said the amount paid out in claims was particularly troubling because Citizens, a state-created insurer, is backed up by assessments on all Florida home owners, who may see extra charges this year because the company's losses were so high.

Citizens spokesman Justin Glover the number cited by Klein was accurate, and said the company would "welcome any further look into Citizens' claims process." But he noted that Klein hasn't pointed out any specific instances where fraud could be looked into.

Klein said he doesn't have any reports of individual claims that may not have been warranted, but that the number sounded fishy for a "a county that was untouched" by last year's storms.

<snip>

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/022205/D88DR3UO2.shtml

[whathappened]

1. wtf is the matter with these people

i was just down there , in clearwater and in the panhandle , and the panhandle was a war zone and in clearwater just about every house had singles gone from there roofs , just because they did'nt take a dirrect hit don't mean they did'nt have damage done from the wind

[magellan]

3. They're talking about Miami-Dade

...one of the few parts of FL spared by last year's hurricanes. Despite this, Miami-Dade was also the recipient of $30M in FEMA disaster relief, which remains a puzzlement.

Cashing in on Disaster

"Hurricane Frances hit South Florida Labor Day weekend, 100 miles north of Miami-Dade County, but Sun-Sentinel reporters found that the federal government approved $28 million in storm claims there for new furniture and clothes and thousands of new televisions microwaves, refrigerators and other appliances. The Federal Emergency Management Agency paid for new cars, dental bills and a funeral even though the Medical Examiner recorded no deaths from Frances."

<snip>

"FEMA gave $21 million in Miami-Dade, where storms were 'like a severe thunderstorm'
The four hurricanes that pummeled the rest of Florida hardly brushed Miami-Dade County. Only Hurricane Frances was a factor there -- packing the punch of a bad thunderstorm."

And just this month:

FEMA director defends agency against hurricane payout criticism

ORLANDO - Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown defended his agency Tuesday against criticism that it gave hurricane relief money to Miami-Dade County residents who didn't need it.

"Those who claim we paid out claims erroneously are just wrong," Brown told about 100 members of the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association.

Miami-Dade County missed a direct hit by a hurricane by 100 miles. FEMA paid about $30 million to more than 12,500 residents.

Brown said claims in Miami-Dade County were made by people who really needed the funding. Some of the areas that were hit were the poorest areas of the county with substandard housing, he said.

[lala_rawraw]

2. oh good god, this is news from 6 months ago...

We have been screaming about this for that long... god, the AP can kiss my arse. Did they wait until AFTER the election too on this one?

[Gyre]

4. Do ya think pointing out the Floridian's greed, and chimps graft

would've made them love Kerry any more? Or the chimp substantially less? That story was DOA from the start. This country is so numb it's going to take something really nasty for the numb and the dumb to get outraged at the chimps shenanigans.

I wish it were otherwise.

Gyre