By Toluse Olorunnipa, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau |
“The forms used by property insurers across the state to calculate insurance discounts for homeowners are seriously flawed and must be completely thrown out, an administrative judge has found in a potentially groundbreaking ruling.
The decision could have far-reaching implications for homeowners who receive wind-mitigation discounts for hurricane-resistant measures in their homes — and specifically for those who lost discounts during a mass home reinspection program by Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Because of a flawed study commissioned 10 years ago by the Office of Insurance Regulation, Florida homeowners may have been denied several million dollars in discounts for their garage doors.
“There are tens if not hundreds of thousands of people who are impacted by this,” said Jack Stumpff, a Plantation small-business owner who successfully took on OIR in court and got the mitigation forms thrown out.
While the impact of the ruling could be widespread, no homeowner will see any changes any time soon because the legal battle is still playing out in court. OIR recently appealed the Oct. 19 ruling in circuit court, and is downplaying its potential impact.
“I don’t think that people need to be concerned that they have lost a substantial amount of discounts for this,” said Belinda Miller, the agency’s general counsel.
A spokesperson for Citizens said the insurer of 1.5 million would await the results of OIR’s appeal.
For the past several years, Florida homeowners have received billions of dollars in discounts on their property insurance bills for strengthening their homes against hurricanes.
Window shutters, hurricane-resistant roofs and impact-resistant glass doors are some of the improvements that have helped homeowners save hundreds — or thousands — of dollars on their insurance premiums. Insurance companies also benefit because homes with stronger features hold up better in hurricanes.”