Almost two years after a group of independent claims adjusters alleged that insurers had deceptively altered their damage estimates and low-balled policyholders, Florida’s chief financial officer has issued an emergency rule barring similar actions in Hurricane Milton claims.
“Any move in a positive direction is a good thing,” said Mark Vinson, one of the whistleblowing independent adjusters who made the charges at a Florida legislative hearing in late 2022.
The rule, posted Wednesday evening just as Hurricane Milton’s eyewall made landfall near Tampa, prohibits desk adjusters from modifying field adjusters’ initial damage estimates – unless