The Florida Attorney General said in a news release that it agreed to repay the state’s third largest real estate insurance company, the state’s third largest real estate insurance company, by Policy Count, following an investigation into allegations filed ineligible claims against the state’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.
Attorney General James Usmier said the investigation came from the 2020 whistleblower lawsuit filed in Leon County.
However, a universal spokesman on Wednesday told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the settlement agreement signed by the CEO on March 27 simply capped the state’s investigation into the issue resolved in 2023.
The whistleblower lawsuit sparked a state investigation into whether the Fort Lauderdale-based insurance company filed “many” claims with the CAT fund following the 2017 Hurricane IRMA, which was “unrelated” to the storm.
CAT funds are state-run trust funds that provide reinsurance support to insurers after a hurricane causes widespread or catastrophic damage.
“In the course of that investigation, numerous unrelated claims were identified in submissions from (Universal) to (Cat Fund),” said the Attorney General’s news release. “As a result, the company agreed not to seek a refund for these claims and agreed to lower (universal) $30 million (Cat Fund) payments from Hurricane Irma.”
Universal also “issued to pay more than $4 million fines and agreeing to implement changes to its policy and procedures,” the release said. Miller admitted that the company agreed to make a “payment,” but said the settlement agreement signed by Universal CEO Steve Donaghee on March 27th was not identified as a “fine.”
The agreement includes a company’s statement that the lawsuit “has no merit” and “denies allegations of fraud.”
A news release from the Attorney General told Sun Sentinel that Uthmeier, who took office on February 17, had “secured tens of millions of dollars” by the company, but Miller told Sun Sentinel that the issues raised in the Whistlebower lawsuit were resolved through a “standard process” in 2023 through the Storm’s six-year CAT fund’s “standard process.”
According to another statement released by Universal on Tuesday, the whistleblower was a former employee of Universal’s claims unit.
“It added that whistleblowers have been added who were not involved or knowledgeable with the company’s data analysis team or who claimed that (CAT Fund) reporting procedures were inappropriately included certain non-IRMA claims in preliminary reports filed with the company with the (CAT Fund).
The company and the Cat Fund reached a “complete and final resolution” in mid-2023, the statement said. “The plaintiffs claim fraud (not the state) but this is not just a fact and the state did not make such discoveries. In fact, the state has acknowledged in the settlement agreement that it maintains the process, workflow and training on this subject.
Claims “as insurers get more information about the cause and origin of the loss” evolve over time. Some were initially thought to be attributed to a hurricane, but later determined that it was not associated with one, adding that “hurricane claims have not been reported as they were determined to be related to the storm.”
Universal said the state has acknowledged that it has “completely and fully cooperated” with the state’s investigation and provided the requested information.
Universal said the settlement agreement approved by the Company and the state “not identifying a portion of the payment as a fine, but the agreement includes payments as part of the parties’ mutual decision to dismiss the case and reject the matter.”
The agreement includes a provision that requires Universal to pay the state $6.5 million. Of this, $2.4 million will be used for “state reasonable costs, attorneys’ fees and expenses.”
“This looks like a good example of a government where insurance companies hold Florida laws accountable. Consumers should expect less,” said Michael Carlson, chairman of Florida’s Trade Group’s Federation of Individual Insurance.
Universal Properties and Casualty have long been one of the state’s largest insurance companies due to policy numbers. According to the state’s Quarterly Housing Market Share Report, the company controls its third largest private and commercial housing policy (557,114), after only the state-run citizen property insurance company and state farm Florida.
Universal is also one of a small number of Florida-based insurance companies, chosen by Heritage Property & Casualty and homeowners. NASDAQ Universal’s stock price surged to $23.81 in noon trading on Wednesday after falling to $23.43 shortly after the market opened.
Ron Burtibise covers South Florida Sun Sentinel’s business and consumer issues. He can be contacted by telephone at 954-356-4071 or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
Original issue: April 2, 2025, 3:08pm EDT
