The CEO of Florida’s state-run insurance carrier, which has come under fire for denying claims related to 2024 hurricanes, has ordered an internal audit to review why Citizens Property Insurance has not made payments to thousands of homeowners.
Tim Cerio on Wednesday announced the internal audit, which he said will be done by a Citizens auditor who does not report to him but to the carrier’s board, in response to recent media stories that said Citizens was denying as many as 77 percent of the claims filed with it after a series of storms.
Background: The initial reports about Citizens denial rates were tied to Hurricane Debby, the storm that hit the Big Bend in early August. Florida was subsequently hit by two major hurricanes — Helene and Milton — in late September and early October, respectively.
Cerio in remarks to the Citizens Board of Governors said that the company has received more than 73,000 claims in connection to the three storms. The vast majority of those are connected to Milton, which struck just south of the Tampa Bay area and then raked the state as it crossed the peninsula. Milton has so far caused more than $3.2 billion in insured losses, according to the state Office of Insurance Regulation.
