‘Check My Contract’: Investigating insurance fraud after Milton and Helene

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Rebuilding after two back-to-back storms has been a challenge for Tampa Bay area communities.

Jimmy Patronis, chief financial officer and State Fire Marshal, launched a “Check My Contract” portal for concerned policyholders.

“We’ve already found inconsistencies in those contracts and were going to start calling those bad actors out,” Patronis said.

After Hurricane Ian, Patronis and his investigation team started 76 insurance fraud investigations, ultimately putting 16 people behind bars.

“It’s a game of whack a mole,” he said. “Every year, it’s something new. We learn something from every single storm.”

After the two most recent storms, Milton and Helene, Patronis envisioned a plan to dig deeper into the issue.

The Florida Department of Financial Services’ (DFS) Check My Contract service is designed to assist residential or commercial property insurance policyholders who have entered into a repair contract with contractors, restoration professionals, or public adjusters related to an insurance claim.

The “Check My Contract” portal allows policyholders to submit repair contracts to DFS for independent review, then gather any potential evidence of insurance fraud against Floridians.

Anna Marie Fiallos, investigator with the Pinellas county consumer protection advises residents to take advantage of resources like these.

“Once you sign a contract, sometimes it can be very difficult and sometimes impossible to get out of it,” Fiallos said. “So we want them to do the homework on the front end. We know these are desperate times right now. Everybody’s anxious to get things back to normal, but it’s still important to take your time and look into those things.”

Fiallos added that Floridians need to be checking to make sure they only deal with licensed and insured contractors year-round.

POST DISASTER CONSUMER TIPS

‘CHECK MY CONTRACT’

When filing your contract for review, in the email, please provide the following:

• Full name of contracted company and/or individual;
• Consumer Name;
• Consumer Address;
• Consumer Phone number and/or email;
• Type of insurance coverage (Homeowner, Condo Unit Owner, Mobile Home, Dwelling Fire, Windstorm, Flood)
• Full name of insurance company;
• Policy number;
• Claim number;
• A non-original copy of the full contract; and
• A detailed explanation of the issue and any additional information or documentation that supports your concerns.

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