Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer and state fire marshal, warned during an interview on Thursday that con artists often look for ways to take advantage of people following major natural disasters, including tricking people into signing away their claims.
“You have these predators that will come in, and they will go door-to-door canvassing neighborhoods that they see the damage and they will sign over their claims to contractors or they will have unscrupulous public adjusters and you will complicate that claims process by adding a bunch of parasites that are going to damage your ability to get made whole any faster,” Patronis warned on Newsmax. “So, there’s good ones in life and there’s bad ones. It’s a rule of numbers.”
“Unfortunately, during times like this, the bad once show up in droves,” he cautioned. “So I’ve been pleading, you know, as you’re a policyholder … call your agent, call your carrier, or call my office. This will be the best way to ensure that your claim is being handled properly, and my office, we love handling people’s claims, we do a great job at it.”
WATCH:
There are predators that will go door-to-door canvassing neighborhoods getting folks to sign their claims away, which complicates their ability to get a check from their insurer. Unfortunately, storms bring out the worst in people. Thanks @seanspicer for getting the word out. pic.twitter.com/sel4uZYQ1V
— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) September 29, 2022
TRANSCRIPT:
JIMMY PATRONIS, FLORIDA’S CFO: You have these predators that will come in, and they will go door-to-door canvassing neighborhoods that they see the damage and they will sign over their claims to contractors or they will have unscrupulous public adjusters and you will complicate that claims process by adding a bunch of parasites that are going to damage your ability to get made whole any faster. So, there’s good ones in life and there’s bad ones. It’s a rule of numbers. Unfortunately, during times like this, the bad once show up in droves. So I’ve been pleading, you know, as you’re a policyholder … call your agent, call your carrier, or call my office. This will be the best way to ensure that your claim is being handled properly, and my office, we love handling people’s claims, we do a great job at it.
RELATED: Florida Issues Forceful Response To Credit Card Companies That Want To Track Gun And Ammo Sales