Citizens Insurance Policyholders to Get Fair Shake in Litigation Against Company  

Hollywood, FL -- July 15 -- After July 1, Citizens Insurance Policyholders will no longer have a disadvantage when suing the company for hurricane related claims.

Until then, those insured with Citizens suffered a double whammy. Not only did they live with the specter of ruination by hurricane lurking in the next weather forecast. They also lived with the equally horrific notion of having to file suit against the insurers based on a hurricane related claim and did not have access to their claim files in litigation.

Rep Elaine Schwartz (D-Hollywood, Pembroke Pines) passed a law that amends s. 627.351, F.S., pertaining to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida’s state sponsored insurer of last resort. This amendment gives a policyholder who has filed suit against Citizens access to his or her own claim file to the same extent that discovery would be available from a private insurer.

"It’s unfair to have one insurer regulated by a different set of rules than another," Schwartz said. "If private insurers must adhere to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, then Citizens must do likewise." Schwartz's new law went into effect on July 1, 2008.

Source: Office of Representative Elaine J. Schwartz

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