Florida CFO Cites $11.5 Million in Insurance Recoveries in 6 Months

July 15, 2009

The state has helped Floridians recover more than $11.5 million in the first six months of this year in claim payments and premium refunds, including one case that resulted in a $1.2 million payment on a consumer’s unpaid hospital claims.

Florida CFO Alex Sink said that her Division of Consumer Services helped recover more than $14 million in all of 2008.

The Division of Consumer Services assists Floridians with financial and insurance-related matters including disaster preparation and insurance fraud as well as questions and complaints regarding auto, home, health, life, and small businesses.

The$11.5 million in recoveries were logged between January 1, 2009, and June 30, 2009, according to Sink.

In the case recovering the largest single sum — $1.2 million — Sink said that an insurance consumer specialist, Guy Thibaut, who works in the Division’s Largo Call Center, intervened on behalf of a consumer who requested help getting hospital claims paid. After Thibaut got involved on the consumer’s behalf, the insurance company determined that the claims were denied in error and made payment.