Fla. Finance Office Forms Task Force on Citizens’ Claims Handling and Resolution

In an ongoing effort to improve Citizens’ policyholder and applicant services, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced appointees to the legislatively-created Task Force on Citizens Property Insurance Claims Handling and Resolution.

The first meeting took place Monday at the Citizens Claims Center in Jacksonville.

“It is essential that we operate Citizens like a business and improve customer service for Citizens policyholders,” Sink said.

The Citizens task force was created by House Bill 1A during the 2007 special session of the Florida Legislature. The task force is composed of four full members, with one appointment each by the Governor, Chief Financial Officer, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House. There are three ex-officio voting members: the Insurance Commissioner, Insurance Consumer Advocate and Executive Director of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., or their designees.

Specifically, the committee is directed to develop recommendations for Citizens to complete claims remaining from the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. A report is due to the Governor, Chief Financial Officer, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House by July 1. The task force is additionally charged with evaluating Citizens’ procedures on claims handling, claims resolution and customer service, with a final report and recommendations due July 1, 2008.

Source: Florida Department of Financial Services