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Assignment of Benefits Abuse Continues to Expand

Why are Florida Insurance Premiums so high?

Florida consumers pay some of the highest insurance premiums in the country for auto and homeowners insurance, and it’s not because we are worse drivers or live in a state where hurricanes are prevalent. A major contributor to our higher insurance rates is assignment of benefits abuse. When we first wrote about assignment of benefits (AOB) abuse in July 2016, we mainly discussed AOB abuse related to homeowners insurance and water claims. Unfortunately, AOB abuse is still growing, and is spreading across insurance lines and across the state.

AOB Abuse is growing in Florida

AOB abuse started with Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims, moved into homeowners claims (often water or roof damage), and is now spreading to the auto glass repair industry. After 2012 PIP reform, PIP AOB abuse cases dropped, but they’re on the rise again—and will likely cause the cost of PIP to rise once more.

AOB agreements have long been used in the auto glass repair industry in order to settle claims efficiently. Unfortunately, there’s been a large increase in bulk lawsuits for glass claims—in the Tampa Bay/I-4 corridor area alone (where much of the abuse is centered) auto glass lawsuits jumped from 3,723 to 17,165 between 2013 and 2017.

AOB abuse equals higher premiums

AOB is a contract between a policyholder and a business in which the policyholder turns over (“assigns”) his or her rights and benefits under the policy. There are many occasions where this type of contract is standard practice and works well, such as in health insurance and auto physical damage claims.

It becomes abuse when a vendor submits inflated claims, provides unnecessary repairs, or doesn’t do the repairs at all but still bills the insurance company. If the insurer balks at paying the claim, the vendor’s attorneys sue the insurance company. Some consumers don’t even know litigation is taking place in their name.

Inflated claims and large attorneys fees drive up insurers’ costs above the national average, and they pass on those costs to Florida consumers in the form of higher insurance premiums. The average homeowners insurance premium rose 30 percent between 2007 and 2015, and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation blames AOB abuse for this large increase. Insurer’s legal expenses in Florida are growing at more than twice the national average. If legal costs had followed the national trend, the cumulative savings to Florida insurers and their policyholders would have been nearly $1.6 billion, according to an Insurance Information Institute report.

More than just higher premiums

There are other problems for consumers besides higher insurance premiums when AOB abuse runs rampant. If you as a homeowner were involved in an AOB lawsuit, whether or not you even knew about it, you may now have a large claim on your loss history. This can result in even higher premiums and make it harder to get homeowners insurance. In addition, an AOB agreement can also give contractors and suppliers the legal right to recover unpaid bills from the homeowner if the insurer delays or denies payment, even to the extent of placing a lien on your home.

Obviously, not every claim is inflated and not every lawsuit is unwarranted, but the situation is such that Florida consumers should be extra cautious if they’re approached by a business asking for an AOB agreement. If you’re in a claim situation, and a company or contractor wants you to sign an AOB contract, think twice. Before you sign anything, talk to your L & M Insurance Group agent or to your own insurance company, especially if you’re being pressured to sign or being asked for a substantial up-front deposit before repairs can be started.

L & M Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency serving eastern Hillsborough County, Tampa, Riverview, Lithia, Valrico, Seffner, Bloomingdale and surrounding areas for more than 25 years. If you need help with any of your insurance needs, please give L & M Insurance Group a call at 813-672-4100, or request an insurance quote by clicking here. We represent you, and we’re here to help!

Assignment of Benefits Abuse: Everyone Pays

Oh no! You’ve just had a leaky pipe flood your bathroom and bedroom. While you’re busy fixing the pipe, mopping up and drying out, along comes a water mitigation company that wants you to sign a contract that allows them to deal directly with your homeowners insurance claim. They make it sound like they’ll handle everything from filing the claim with your insurance company to dealing with all the contractors who will be involved in making repairs to your home—if you sign a contract that contains an Assignment of Benefits clause. This sounds tempting—should you do it?

No, you should not, and here’s why.

Assignment of Benefits (AOB) is a tool that allows a third party to be paid directly by the insurance company for services performed, rather than by the homeowner after making a claim. Unfortunately, in Florida, unscrupulous trial lawyers and shady contractors (many of them unlicensed) have taken advantage of this tool, inflating repair costs and suing insurance companies if they deny the claim or don’t pay it in full. AOB abuse has become so rampant in Florida that’s it’s costing every homeowner money in the form of higher homeowners insurance premiums. According to the Consumer Protection Coalition, since 2000, there has been a 90,000% increase in AOB lawsuits.

Ultimately, this will cost Florida consumers as much as $1 billion dollars in rate hikes, and those rate hikes have already begun. State-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. asked for a 3.2% increase in rates for all personal lines policyholders in its 2016 rate filing, and CEO and President Barry Gilway told Florida insurance regulators, “I want to be crystal clear on this issue: water losses are the major reason Citizens is seeking rate hikes for the coming year….” (AOB is most commonly used when a homeowner experiences a water-related loss, but the scam is also spreading to the roofing industry.)

Private insurance companies are also raising rates in response, with one large insurer saying it needs a rate increase of 15% statewide to cover the explosion of water loss claims and AOB lawsuits. Private insurers may also begin withdrawing from or eliminating certain zip codes where the abuse is widespread, making homeowners insurance not only more expensive but harder to get.

Florida Assignment of Benefits (AOB)

In addition, often, AOB abuse also leaves homeowners with poor workmanship or incomplete jobs, and because they’ve signed over the rights to their insurance policy, they have no recourse.

If you have a water damage claim, here’s what you should do:

1. Call L & M Insurance Group or your homeowners insurance company.
2. Be leery of unsolicited offers from contractors or other vendors who want to take over dealing with your insurance company for your claim.
3. Carefully read any contracts of service, and look for a clause titled “Assignment of Benefits.” If you see it, don’t sign.

To learn more, visit www.FightFraud.Today.