Fla. DOI Staff to Move on Mold Report

Now that the Florida Department of Insurance has wrapped its hearings on mold issues, staff is ready to go to work on recommendations for Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher.

The last of four mold hearings was held Sept. 19 in Pensacola.

The Florida Insurance Council reported that the DOI official presiding over the hearings, Steve Roddenberry-deputy director of the Division of Insurer Services, expects staff to have a report completed in about 30 days.

Once it is submitted to Gallagher, the commissioner will then have the task of dealing with the report and acting on the 400-plus filings from carriers that exclude, qualify or limit coverage for mold in homeowners and commercial property insurance policies.

Roddenberry told the FIC that department action will likely include a warning to carriers to investigate and settle water damage claims more quickly.

Throughout the hearings, consumers repeatedly complained that delays by insurance companies in dealing with claims have caused mold damage to occur that could have been prevented.

At the Pensacola hearing FIC President Cecil Pearce and Vince Rio, State Farm counsel encouraged DOI to increase consumer options by approving the various filings.