Suppose you were not such a good person and tried to pay less than you owed on several debts. There was a process to resolve those debts, and you repeatedly lost and eventually had to pay the debts. What would you do? Well, if you are Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and its Board of Governors, you change the rules, looking for a different resolution process to avoid paying the debt and the publicity of underpaying claims.

Of course, that is not how Citizens’ in-house attorneys and management try to spin what they are doing by removing the appraisal clause from their property insurance policies. After all, if the Board of Governors really wanted to know why Citizens loses at appraisal, it would not make an in-house inquiry. The claims managers would just make excuses for losing. If the Board of Governors wanted to know the embarrassing truth, they would ask their opponents, “why are our claims handlers losing these appraisals?”

Citizens is a part of Florida’s government. So how embarrassing would it be for our elected representatives and our appointed Board of Governors if the media reported that Citizens lost so many appraisals because it severely underpays claims and battles its policyholders regarding how much is owed? What if the media reported that this is the true reason that Citizens wants to end appraisal?

Citizens usually loses badly in appraisal because its adjustments are not correct and reflect a bias to underpay policyholders. It delays claims and battles policyholders rather than engaging in a dialogue about resolution and why a dispute occurs.

For example, I have invited Citizens senior management to speak on a multi-million dollar claim that has been pending for several years with another attorney in our firm. They refused to even speak with us, cancelled settlement meetings, refused the less expensive alternative of appraisal, and forced us to file a lawsuit to force a resolution. All this, despite our client’s hope that the matter could be resolved amicably, without a lawsuit. When claims managers refuse to talk and discuss differences, lawsuits are the only option. Citizens customers must wait and then fight for money that is rightfully theirs.

Many of Citizens’ claims are handled so poorly that almost anybody reviewing a closed claim can find significant amounts that were not paid. I hear this all the time. It is the major reason Citizens has re-opened claims–it underpays the initial adjustment.

Still, appraisal is not a “right” for policyholders. Citizens management and in-house attorneys made an excellent point that appraisal has no written rules and is subject to abuse. I am surprised that the Florida Supreme Court has allowed appraisal, an informal process, to bind parties. I have long felt that an informal process of binding resolution violates due process. At one time, Florida Courts ruled that the appraisal process was subject to the Arbitration Code. This is no longer the case, and Citizens correctly pointed to the deficiencies of appraisal in its report to the Board of Governors.

Citizens did not report to its Board of Governors the true reason management wants to change the rules and take appraisal out of the policy. Somebody on the Board of Governors should question whether Citizens management is being truthful and the media should start an inquiry. Everybody in the business knows that the true reason for removing appraisal from the policy is because Citizens underpays many claims, and appraisals embarrassingly prove it.

Dan Luby of Precision Advisors forwarded me the following story of Citizens’ change to eliminate the appraisal clause:

It would appear that Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is changing their previous position on amending the Appraisal process and is now recommending the elimination of the Appraisal process.

 The following are the minutes from the Citizens ‘Actuarial and Underwriting Committee Meeting’ held on May 11, 2009:

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 DISPUTED CLAIMS/APPRAISAL – POLICY FORM CHANGES

MAY 11, 2009

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 Staff seeks approval to amend Citizens’ policy forms (1) to eliminate appraisal as a mechanism to resolve disputed property claims, and (2) to improve certain claims adjusting processes. The elimination of appraisal is a change from the recommendation made last year to reform appraisal policy language. See minutes of Actuarial & Underwriting Committee, May 29, 2008; Board of Governors, June 19, 2008.

Background

Citizens’ property policies generally provide that, in the event of a dispute related to the “amount” of a loss, either Citizens or the policyholder may demand an appraisal of the loss. Citizens’ policies currently use industry standard language. The principal advantages of a disputed claims appraisal are that it generally resolves claims disputes more quickly and with less expense and fees than litigation. But its advantages are overshadowed by its disadvantages.

Notwithstanding significant and meaningful operational reforms that Citizens and its Litigation & Disputed Claims Unit (“LDCU”) have instituted, appraisal remains very flawed and subject to abuse by third-party stakeholders. The standard language used by Citizens and the industry is problematic because it provides virtually no rules for the process. As a result, insurers (including Citizens) are legally required to pay damages that may not be covered by the policy form, nor caused by a covered peril, nor supported by substantial evidence, and without recourse to meaningful judicial review. The process is so problematic that some carriers have eliminated appraisal from their policy forms (and some others are in the process of doing so).

In its January 2009 report on Citizens, the Auditor General recognized the flaws of the appraisal process and the challenges of third-party stakeholders, and further encouraged Citizens to complete its work on this issue, by stating: “Citizens’ staff is reconsidering whether to move forward with these amendments or, instead, whether it should eliminate appraisal from its policy forms (in which case these disputes would be resolved through litigation). . . We recommend that Citizens continue to evaluate its options . . . and select an option which ensures the fair treatment of policyholders and full disclosure of all decisions made relative to the claim amounts ultimately paid.”

Recommendations

Staff recommends the following changes to its various property policy forms, as applicable: 

  • Eliminate the provision for appraisal of disputed property claims. 
  • Provide Citizens with the option to require examination under oath and recorded statements for all property claims. When the insured is an association or corporation, require that certain representatives must submit to examination under oath and recorded statements.
  • In multi-peril policies, conform the “duties after a loss” provisions to those in wind-only policies; and modify the “duties after a loss” provisions of all policies to improve the claims adjusting process.

 Staff recommends elimination of the appraisal provision principally for the following reasons: 

  • Citizens has more confidence in the judicial system than in the appraisal process. Litigation has known rules and procedures. Whereas appraisers and umpires are essentially unregulated, opposing attorneys and judges are subject to the Florida Code of Professional Responsibility (essentially, an enforceable code of ethics and rules of compliance), as well as supervision by The Florida Bar Association and the Florida courts (including discipline by the Florida Supreme Court).
  • Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is important from consumer perspective, but stakeholders are skipping statutory mediation and filing appraisals as the ADR of choice. By eliminating appraisal, statutory mediation favored by the Florida Legislature will again be the ADR of choice. Should Appraisal be eliminated, there will remain multiple opportunities for mediation and early settlement. Citizens may institute other ADR if the insured agrees.
  • For policyholders, appraisal is a secretive process, with the basis of the award outside the scrutiny of the policyholder and the insurer. Like Citizens, policyholders have virtually no way to seek judicial review of an appraisal award. In litigation, a policyholder is able to recover its attorney fees, while its appraisal expenses generally come out of the award. 
  • Elimination of appraisal meets the objectives suggested by the Auditor General’s office (fair treatment of policyholders and full disclosure of all decisions) because the courts are very attentive to policyholder rights, and because judicial decisions and jury verdicts are fully disclosed.

RECOMMENDATION

Citizens’ staff requests that this Committee recommend to the Board of Governors that Citizens amend its policy forms and submit appropriate filings to the Office of Insurance Regulation to: (1) eliminate disputed claims appraisal, and (2) improve claims adjusting as described in this Executive Summary.