Florida is one of the leading states in the country for fraud and insurance scams can be quite prevalent in several communities. Unfortunately, this leaves Florida residents paying some of the highest premiums in our nation. As a homeowner, you can do your part to identify insurance fraud, prevent it from happening to you, and report it.
Identifying Insurance Fraud
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is. It is important you can identify a fraudulent contractor. Here are a few signs to look for:
- An unsolicited third party such as a construction company, roofer or plumber arrive at your front door, saying they can offer you a new roof, or upgrades to your kitchen or bathrooms at no cost to you.
- A contractor tells you there is damage to your home or property you were unaware of.
- Especially after a storm, contractors go door-to-door to tell homeowners there is damage much worse than there clearly is.
- A contractor begins repairs before notifying your insurance carrier or allowed to inspect damages.
These might seem like obvious signs, but when under a certain amount of pressure and the stress of making immediate repairs, these signs can be easily missed. What ends up happening is these contractors have you sign over all insurance benefits and proceeds to their companies as part of the repair process. Once your insurance carrier issues the settlement funds in the contractor’s name, per your request via the signed contract, they disappear from your job site leaving you to complete repairs on your own.
The most important thing is to be knowledgeable about the damage in your home and contact your insurance company directly, so they may send a certified professional to your home for an inspection. You should never leave your home repairs in the hands of someone you feel you cannot trust.
Reporting Fraud
Reporting these fraudulent contractors is a great to protect yourself and others. At Florida Peninsula Insurance Company, we take fraud extremely seriously and have many ways for you to report fraud directly to us. To report fraud on a Florida Peninsula policy, please call us at 866-923-2920 or you can sent an email to reportfraud@floridapeninsula.com. To report fraud directly to the state of Florida you may do so by visiting, https://first.fldfs.com/ or by calling 800- 378-0445.
We encourage our policyholders to look for signs of fraudulent activity. Should you have questions about filing a claim or about how a claim will be settled if you contract a third party, our Claims Department is available to assist you by calling (866) 549-9672.
