Citizens Activates Hotline, Dispatches Response Unit; Only a Few FAIA Agents Report Damage

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. reports it has set up its “storm claims hotline,” and has dispatched a claims response unit to Milton, Fla.; while the Florida Independent Insurance Agents reports most of its agents in the panhandle fared well after Hurricane Dennis tore through the Panhandle on Sunday.

Citizens activated its storm claims hotline for policyholders affected by Hurricane Dennis. To file a claim, policyholders should call 1-866-411-CPIC.

The company also dispatched teams of adjusters and its mobile response unit to the Pensacola area to directly assist residents. Adjusters will enter storm-damaged areas as soon as possible to begin assessing losses.

“Our adjusters will work as quickly as possible to respond to our policyholders’ needs,” Bob Ricker, Citizens’ executive director said.

Citizens’ mobile unit will be located at Gateway Plaza, 6588 Caroline Street in Milton.

Citizens advised policyholders who sustained property damage to make temporary repairs as necessary to prevent further loss and to keep all receipts for reimbursement.

Additional information for Citizens policyholders and insurance agents is available on at www.citizensfla.com. Insurance agents assisting policyholders in filing a claim should also call 1-866-411-CPIC.

“Actually we have not sent anyone out on the road,” spokesperson Jennifer Pitts said. “We came in this morning and called all of our agents in the counties to the west of us and only a few had any damage, which were in Milton, Fla. Although they were working they had no power. We have one person that will be traveling to Milton Tuesday to check on agencies there, but otherwise we faired pretty well.”

Atlanta-based Crawford & Company adjusters have been deployed to the Panhandle to assist with claims related to Hurricane Dennis.

In addition to the hundreds of adjusters and executive general adjusters headed to the region, Crawford has deployed a satellite communications truck to assist in expeditious claim processing.

“The coordinated efforts of our catastrophe services personnel with our Global Technical Services, marine services, and property and casualty services enable us to handle any level of claim assignment, said Tom Crawford, president and CEO of Crawford & Company. “We are ready to help in any way we can.”

State Farm(R), the largest insurer of homes and automobiles in Florida, Alabama and the nation, has mobilized 600 catastrophe claims adjusters to join Florida and Alabama employees, agents and agents’ staff who are already assisting customers recovering from Hurricane Dennis.

Hundreds of members of State Farm’s Catastrophe Team(R), a group of specially trained claims adjusters are already en route to areas near the hurricane’s path. At this time, some claims are being handled in-person by local agents and claims personnel, and over the phone. In many cases, however, local emergency authorities are not allowing access to severely damaged areas because of safety concerns. Claims adjusters are ready to enter those neighborhoods when they are deemed safe.

RLI representatives are prepared to assess damages and provide assistance to policyholders affected by Hurricane Dennis. Customers who suffer a loss should immediately notify their insurance agent of the claim and have them report it to RLI, or they can contact RLI directly by phone (800-444-0406), fax (309-692-6796) or by email at new_claim@rlicorp.com. Customers should be prepared to provide their policy number and as much information as possible regarding damage to their property.

“We are currently evaluating the financial impact of Hurricane Dennis,” said RLI Corp. president & CEO, Jonathan E. Michael. “We expect to publish an estimate of losses next Tuesday — when we release second quarter earnings — but we do not expect the losses to be significant.”