Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky is penalising eight insurers a combined $2,075,000 for claims-handling violations identified during market conduct examinations for Hurricanes Ian and/or Idalia.
Examinations uncovered several instances of misconduct, including using adjusters not properly appointed, failing to acknowledge receipt of claims communications in a timely manner, not including certain disclosure statements when providing estimates on damage claims, failing to provide Homeowners Claims Bill of Rights, failing to pay interest when owed, and more.
In one case, the Market Conduct Unit found error rates of over 60% for Hurricane Ian and more than 80% for Hurricane Idalia for the company not including disclosure statements. In several examinations, OIR found that companies failed to pay or deny claims in 90 days.
The market conduct examinations included the following companies and penalties: American Coastal Insurance Company – $400,000; American Mobile Insurance Exchange – $400,000; Centauri Specialty Insurance Company – $100,000; Clear Blue Insurance Company – $400,000; Monarch National Insurance Company – $325,000; Sutton National Insurance Company – $50,000; Tower Hill Prime Insurance Company – $250,000; and TypTap Insurance Company – $150,000.
Two additional examinations remain ongoing and could result in additional fines.
Unlike past litigation costs, fines assessed by OIR do not negatively affect policyholder insurance rates.
With the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season underway and the most active part approaching, Commissioner Yaworsky emphasised that OIR’s Market Conduct Unit is ready to deploy during storms to ensure claims-handling practices meet required standards.
Blaise Ingoglia, Chief Financial Officer, said, “As your Chief Financial Officer, I promised to work with OIR to hold insurance companies accountable if they do not uphold the contractual agreement that they sign with their policyholders. These fines are proof positive that we are committed to holding them accountable. Floridians can rest assured that I am actively watching insurers, and I will not hesitate to enter the fight on behalf of consumers and policyholders. With peak hurricane season approaching, it is more important than ever to ensure that insurance companies are keeping their promises to their customers.”
Yaworsky added, “Capital is pouring in, and the market is stabilizing, but our office holds insurers to high standards. It is important that consumers have confidence that they are getting what they pay for. The Office of Insurance Regulation stands ready to fulfill oversight duties assigned by the Legislature and make sure Floridians are being treated fairly, especially after hurricanes. Insurer accountability and consumer protection will always take priority—we want companies to thrive, but companies must also be worthy of doing business in our state.
“With the most active part of hurricane season approaching, I am fully prepared to deploy OIR examiners to make sure claims management practices are efficient and handled appropriately. We will be paying particularly close attention to any company who has had concerning performance behavior in the past.”
Historic insurance reforms focused on consumer protection have stabilised Florida’s insurance market, giving OIR greater ability to enforce regulatory authority and take action to increase market regulation compliance.
For fiscal year 2023–24, OIR’s Market Conduct Unit secured more than $8 million in monetary restitution and issued over $2.8 million in fines—nearly seven times the total collected in two-thirds of 2023.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the office has already secured more than $660,000 in consumer restitution.
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