TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Florida insurance company has agreed to pay more than $30 million to the state’s Hurricane Fund following allegations that the company has fraudulently filed an unfairly ineligible claim for a refund, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General James Usmier said Tuesday that Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company (UPCIC) will return the money to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF).
The Attorney General’s Office said the company violated Florida’s False Claims Act.
Uthmeier said this was the first time the Attorney General’s office has secured repayments related to an insurance fraud case.
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“Thanks to the outstanding work of Associate Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Wyrahammer, Director Liz Brady and Assistant Andrew Butler, our office has secured more than $30 million in return to the state’s Hurricane Fund from claims for fraudulent insurance filing after Hurricane Irma,” Usmeyer said. “As Florida, we know how important the hurricanes will have on our state and how important the recovery efforts are in the aftermath of the storm to help residents begin rebuilding. This office is committed to a healthy and stable insurance market for Florida homeowners.
The Attorney General’s Office said the Hurricane Fund “plays an important role in stabilizing the Florida insurance market when hurricanes cause widespread or catastrophic damage.”
This provides a refund to the home property insurance company for some of the payments to the homeowner for hurricane-related property damages.
In the event of a wide range of major hurricanes like Hurricane Irma, the fund provides a backstop to the losses faced by insurers.
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During the UPCIC investigation, the Attorney General’s Office said many unrelated claims were identified in the submissions from UPCIC to the FHCF following Hurricane Irma.
“As a result, the company agreed not to seek a refund for these claims and reduced FHCF payments from Hurricane Irma to UPCIC over $30 million,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.
The Attorney General said the Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company has agreed to pay more than $4 million in fines and implement changes to its insurance contracts and procedures.
