Atwater: Put insurance companies on payment ‘timetable’
Monday, April 09, 2007
By Dale M. King
BocaNews.com
After hearing a litany of horror stories Thursday about condominium associations still waiting for millions in insurance settlements for 2004 and 2005 hurricane damage, State Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-District 25, declared that enough is enough.
He promised to go back to the State Senate today and amend insurance bills on the floor to establish a payment “timetable” for firms to pay their claims.
“If they don’t pay, the interest clock with start ticking,” he told reporters following a meeting at Boca Teeca in Boca Raton.
He admitted that the “timetable” legislation, if approved, will not help condominium associations that have already gone millions of dollars into the hole to shore up damaged structures while waiting for insurance payments. He said most of them already hired attorneys to file suits against the delinquent insurance carriers.
Be he decried the practice of insurance companies holding out on policyholders. “When the good citizens of Florida diligently make their payments, it is the duty of the insurance company to follow through in their time of need,” said Atwater. “This lack of payment on the part of the insurance companies is reprehensible.”
Officials from the condo associations as far away as Miami came to the Boca meeting to discuss tales of woe. An official from the Poinciana Condos in Lake Worth said 16 of its 48 units were evacuated for Hurricane Frances in 2004-and no one has moved back in. In the meantime, the association has borrowed $2 million for repairs, but the building’s walls “are still compromised,” he said, and the roofs need repair.
Bill Aillis, a member of the board of directors at Boca Tecca, said Hurricane Wilma blew “three huge sections of roof” off Building 3. Ninety percent of units still don’t have terraces.”
Tim Greene, a public adjuster for Epic Group, said he would estimate the total damage to Boca Tecca 3 at $3 million.
“We’ve spent $1.1 million-and haven’t received a cent,” said Aillis.
Most associations are insured by QBE, an Australian-based company with offices in New York. A call to the firm on Thursday by the Boca Raton news was not returned.
QBE “is the only one we’ve had troubles with,” said Ron Capitena, senior vice president of Prime Management, which services hundreds of developments in South Florida.
About QBE, Greene said, “They are not coming back to us in good faith. They are delaying the claims. Now, it will become a legal matter.”
Also attending the meeting were County Commissioner Mary McCarty, who met with some of the condo officials, and Deputy Mayor Susan Whelchel.
“What we have here is the fox guarding the henhouse,” said Whelchel. “Therefore, we have to find a way legislatively to stop it.”
