Florida Insurance Commissioner Named In Lawsuit

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has been named in a lawsuit which alleges that the commissioner violated the law by enabling home insurers to change consumers’ policies.

The lawsuit, filed in Leon County by the Restoration Association of Florida (RAF) and home remediation contractor Air Quality Assessors, looks to reverse a recently-enacted policy change.

It also named two insurers -- American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida and Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company -- as defendants apart from Altmaier.

The lawsuit claimed that American Heritage sought and received approval for a policy change, which requires policyholders -- or any third party to which policyholders would assign the benefits of their claim -- to agree to take any dispute to mediation and arbitration instead of a court.

Should the policyholder or assignee hire an attorney to represent them in the mediation/arbitration, the insurer would not be obligated to pay for the attorney’s fees, even if the policyholder/assignee wins the case.