PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Barbara Pellegrino has a story tens of thousands of Southwest Florida residents can relate to.
It involves hurricane damage, a fight with her insurance company and ultimately an insolvency.
“You gotta take a deep breath,” said Pellegrino detailing her six-month journey to Fox 4 Investigates.
“I gotta get my house fixed.”
Her Port Charlotte home took damage to her roof, the soffits, the pool cage and the fence.
Pellegrino says her contractors estimated it would take more than $100,000 to repair the damage.
Her insurance company, she says, offered about a quarter of that.
Then came the insolvency.
In February, United Property & Casualty Insurance went out of business and was ordered into liquidation.
“That’s enough to get you sick to your stomach. It was a really rough feeling of ‘what am I gonna do now?’” said Pellegrino.
State records show UPC had around 138,000 customers before Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida.
In an October meeting, UPC said 30,000 customers, similar to Pellegrino, filed claims.
The company claimed to lose $1 billion.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, less than a third of those claims were paid out.
“When you pay for a service, you expect to have that service. Unfortunately, none of us got that service,” said Pellegrino, who lives in Pennsylvania full time.
“I got $24,000. I’m kinda lucky that I did get $24,000 because I know people who got zero.”
Those claims left unpaid will now be picked up by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, or FIGA.
“Unfortunately, it won’t be a real quick process. Because of the insolvency it will take some time,” said Mark Friedlander with the III.
“We’re going to suffer some pain this year,” Friedlander said. “We’ve already seen one company go insolvent. Is it possible other, smaller, regional insurers might fail this year? Very possible.”
If we see more insolvencies, Florida’s newly appointed Hurricane Ian Chief Recovery Director says your best bet is to try to sign on with Citizens, the state-run insurer of last resort.
If that doesn’t work, Tasha Carter urges customers to “contact their insurance agent to reach out all insurance companies to determine if they would be willing to write a policy for their home.”
Pellegrino was able to sign onto Citizens insurance last week.
But her battle still isn’t over.
The insurance company changed its rules during its Board of Governors meeting to allow UPC customers who still have damage 90 days to get it fixed.
Pellegrino plans to pay for the repairs out-of-pocket and hopes she will be reimbursed by her new insurance carrier.
“An insurance company won’t pick you up with damage. I was fortunate that the government opened the program so they could take us,” said Pellegrino. “But they really don’t have an option.”
