The Sheldon family suffered a fire loss to their home in St. Petersburg, Florida, in January, 2011. While their homeowner’s insurance company, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, has admitted this the loss is covered under the policy, Citizens has failed to properly pay the claim. As a result, this Bay area family will be displaced from their home this holiday season.
Unfortunately, this scenario is similar to what other policyholders in Florida have experienced with their Citizens claims. The Sheldons are making their dissatisfaction with Citizens well know.
Maryellen and Jonathan Sheldon and their public insurance adjuster, Rick Tutwiler, spoke to Tampa’s Channel 10 News about the claim in this interview.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1
The Sheldons hired Tutwiler and Associates as their public insurance adjusters to help them with this fire loss. Rick Tutwiler has assisted with presenting their claim to Citizens, but Tutwiler explained that Citizens is still missing the mark by tens of thousands of dollars. The Sheldons have now filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Citizens.
The complaint includes a demand for attorneys’ fees. Under Florida Statute 627.428, if the Sheldons prevail in their action, Citizens will owe damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.
Have you experienced a similar problem? Post a comment below and I will forward it to Channel 10.