2015 Florida Review of Assignment of Benefits in Property Insurance Claims

Overview

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) in October 2015 asked Florida’s 25 largest property insurers to submit detailed information on water loss claims, mitigation services, litigation and assignment of benefits (AOB). OIR said the data call would help evaluate the impact that assignment of benefits is having on property claims. Under the state’s AOB provision, policyholders may assign a claim and any benefits to third parties such as attorneys and/or public adjusters even before filing an initial claim with the insurer. An OIR review found that in cases of water damage, roof repairs and other claims, such assignment of benefit agreements lead more frequently to litigation, which increases the cost of the claim to nearly four times that of a non-litigated, non-assigned claim. This Feb. 8, 2016 report includes the data collected for the purpose of evaluating the impact of assignment of benefits on Florida’s property claims.

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