TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa-based insurer is responding to accusations by adjusters that the company altered damaged reports to deceive customers.
This follows a story that aired this week on "60 Minutes." The news program spoke with a North Port family who says they received $15,000 minus their deductible from Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance following Hurricane Ian. In an interview with Sharyn Alfonsi, Jeff and Virginia Rapkin said they endured 11 hours of the storm battering their home.
“It felt like the hurricane was inside the house. We couldn't keep the windows closed,” Jeff Rapkin explained.
Alfonsi also sat down with the insurance adjuster Jordan Lee who toured the damage of their home. He says the couple was given a different report than the one he wrote where he said the couple needed a new roof, not a repair. Lee reported they were owed more than $231,000, so the Rapkins were stunned at the difference between that and the check they received.
Governor Ron DeSantis says the state has taken action so that homeowners shouldn't see things like this happen in the future.
“You can't just disregard what the adjuster does. You actually have to have a clear, valid reason to be able to depart downward. That may not have been in place when Ian happened, but I know that particular company has faced fines in excess of 7 figures,” the governor said.
As for Heritage Insurance, the CEO has it now overhauled its claims software so it adds the name of any reviewer who works on a claim and is in compliance with State Bill 7052.
Heritage has signed an order with the Florida Department of Insurance Regulation and paid a million-dollar fine. The insurer also says in a random sample of 10,000 claims, they found 4,100 were revised downward like what the Rapkins say happened to them. But Heritage found nearly 2,600 were revised upward and another 3,300 had no change from the adjuster.
Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance CEO, Ernie Garateix, told 10 Investigates:
“We are not commenting on the specifics of the Rapkin case because it is an active lawsuit. However, we do want to stress that there are often legitimate reasons to repair a roof versus replacing a roof. In the case of Jordan Lee, records show that some of his estimates were revised downward by his adjustment firm because he would include screen enclosures, for example, that were not included in a homeowner’s policy. Additionally, third party adjusters are also paid based on a percentage of the claims they write. We are also aware of Jordan Lee being asked to collaborate by his employers at the third party adjustment firm and he would ignore that request for collaboration on his estimates. This meant the quality assurance process of that company would often have to continue on without Mr. Lee’s involvement in order to not delay the claims process.”