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SENTINEL STAFFWRITER
DAffONA BEACH - It's been
four years since Florida suffered
through its worst hurricane season
in recorded history - the 2004quartet ofCharley Frances, Jeanne and
Ivan, and a cumulative $42billion in
damage.
Yet
Citizens
'Ihe 9 beadrfront
ProPe-rtY T:ritlrcondos
thatale
Piise
suins,
s?
ffi:$Tffi ,""j
solved
homeowner-damage cl,aims from that season and the 2005storms.
Now se'reral beachfront condominiums in Volusia, unhappy with
claims paid out by the state-run insuneX,are taking Citizens to court.
A Volusia jury has started the first
of nine trials from beachfront condominiums brying to get Citi2ens to pay
more for 2004hurricane damage.The
,condorniniums claim the insurer
isn't paying what their policies cover
and is shortchangrng them millions
t
of dollars.
It's a refbain heard elsewhere in
Florida that Citizens delays paying
claims and
lowballs.storm damage,
according to public adjusters, attorneys and formef Citizens -employees.
Theyblame a loophole that has al-
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Orlando Sentinel
GITIZENS
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lowed the state's largest property insurer to argue it is not
Subject to ,Florida's negligence andbad-faith laws that
help keep ottrer insurers in
line.
The state formed the insuner as a liast resort for
homeowners to help cover
higher-risk areas that'private
companies were reluctant to
ihsure.Citizens spokesman
John Kuczwanski noted that
only a small ftaction of
policyholders filing storm
claims have complained
about the process ahd it is
rarefor suChcasesto cometo
hial.
Kuczwanski disputes that
Citizens is shortchanging
policyholders.
"We have no basis to lowball claims, no policy to
underevaluate cl;aims," he
said. "We do take the cl,aims
evaluation and review processvery seriously"
The larpsuits are revisiting
the 2004 hurricane season,
hoping to prove in court that
the insurer failed to live up to
its policies.
In this current trial, Sunglow Condominiums,. a 10story &l-unitbuilding in Daytona Beach Shores, has received $370,000in claim payments from Citizens, but the
damage amounts tq more
than $5million, said the condominium's attorney Andrew M. Plunkett, in his tial
opener.
David Doyle, the attorney
for Citizens, countered to jurors thatthe condominium is
asking for more than the poL
icy covers, ffid the insuner
isn't paying for damage because ofyears ofneglect and
lack of maintenance.
On Tuesday the jury heard
two engineering experts testify that Sunglow sustained
the kind of damage that only
a hurricane, and not age and
neglect, can cause.
Gary Hart and Anurag
Jain, strrctural engineers
with Weidlinger Associates
Inc., testified that the potent
winds frorn a hurricane
Cr l"rdo Seo :{,>" /
Oc{-, a, zaa I
Gondo srrits
decide whether Citizens must
pay Sunglow €uly more monNinebeachfront
condominiums ey The trial is scheduled to
in VolusiaCountyhavesued '
rtrntwo weeks.
CitizensPropertyInsurance
Past trials against Citizens
Corp.for not fullypaying
have been complicated by its
2004hurricane
claims:
unique position as a state-run
I SunglowCondominium,
insurer.
Asiociation
"What we've seen in hun36/.7S.Atlantic
Ave.,
dreds ofcaseswith Citizens is
DaytonaBeachShores
that they're just as bad as all
10stories,64 r,rnits
the other insurance compaInsured
for 56 million
nies exceptworsebecause. . .
I Inlet Condominium
they claim they're the gov257MinorcaBeachWay,
ernment and you can't sue
NewSmyrnaBeach
the government," said Alan
18stories,
124units
Garfinkel, founding partner
Insured
for 522million
of the Fort Lauderdale law
I White Sud Condominium
firm Katanan Garfinkel, who
35555.AtlanticAve.,
isn't involved in the Volusia
DaytonaBeachShores
case.
policyholders
7 stories,54 units
Because
Insured
for 56.89million
can't get private insurance,
I OceanquestCohdominium locations ensured by Citizens
4641S.AtlanticAve.,
tend to suffer greater damage
DaytonaBeachShores
and, therefore, generate more
7 stories,
S4units
disputes, said Martin Grace,
professor of risk manage
Insured
fcir58.75million
I HarbciurBeachResort
ment at Georgia StateUniverCondominium
sity Citizens paid $6billion
701S.AtlanticAve.,
for 2004 and 2005 hurricane
DaytonaBeach
claims, compared with about
8 stories,56 units
$5billion paid by State Farm
lnsuredfor 58.12million
andmore than $2billionpaid
I AshleyCondomlnium
by Allstate.
3757S.AtlanticAve.,
Consumer advocates said
DaytonaBeachShores
Citizens' benefits outweigh
20 stories,
130units
its flaws.
lnsuredfor 517.1million
"The government is known
I DaytonaBeachCtub
for br,ueaucracy not cusCondominium
tomer senrice. But it does
800N.AtlanticAve.,
have a low'price," said Bill
DaytonaBeach
Newton, executive director of
7 stories,
l7 units
Florida Consumer Action
lnsuredfor 55.46million
Network. The Legislature has
I OceansAtrium
frozen Citizens' rates until
3023S.AtlanticAve.,
2010.
DaytonaBeachShores
Policyholder suits over the
12stories,
TSunits
bad-faith issue have been setlnsuredfor 59.6million
tled or resolved, so state court
jufues have yet to rnalre a fiI OceansAtrium One
3013S.AtlanticAve.,
nal nrling on the central
question of Citizens' immuniDaytonaBeachShores
12stories,78 units
ty as a government entity
lnsuredfor 59.92million
Last y€ar, the Legislature
amended one of three state
laws dealing with the badcausedthe damage evident at faith mattex, but the com- .
the condominium. Wind pres- pany's status remains',unsure and the actual,'move- clearbecausethe stattrtesare
ment of the building caused conflicting.
the exterior stucco to crack
and warped the sliding glass JuliePatelof the (Fortl"audedale)
doors, which then allowed SunSentinelontributedto thisrcport.
driving rains to get inside the ludmillalelison bercaded
\
building.
. at llelis@odandosentinel.om
It will be up to the jury to ' or 386253-$64.