Southern Fidelity has been paced into receivership of the State of Florida and has been ordered into liquidation.
It is important that you read this information in its entirety
Information for Southern Fidelity policy holders
Effective June 15, 2022, Southern Fidelity Insurance Company was ordered into liquidation by the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County, Florida. The Florida Department of Financial Services (“Department” or “Receiver”) is the court appointed receiver for the Company. Policy holders will need to be placed with a new carrier no later than July 15th 2022. The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (“FIGA”) has been activated to help pay outstanding Florida claims for property and casualty policies. The processing and payment of covered claims will be made by FIGA. FIGA will pay unearned premium claims after the Receiver completes its processing of the policy records and sends the unearned premium records to FIGA. FIGA expects to issue payments of unearned premiums within 45 to 60 days from the liquidation date. For further information or inquirers about refunds or claim payments please visit the FIGA website HERE
Why did this happen?
Florida’s property insurance market is in crisis as carriers struggle to handle rampant litigation costs and billions in losses. Florida’s Insurance Consumer Advocate (ICA) Tasha Carter stating, “Homeowners insurance options in Florida have become more and more limited, and consumers are facing dire consequences.” Florida insurance carriers are canceling policies, pulling out of the state or worse, facing liquidation at an alarming pace. Front and center of the issue is litigation cost from attorneys. A recent statement released from the office of Governor Ron DeSantis explained, Florida only accounts for 9% of the country's homeowners insurance claims, but accounts for to 79% of the country's homeowners insurance lawsuits. Many of these are fraudulent claims connected to roofing contractors. $15 billion has been paid out in the property insurance claims process in recent years, 71% went to attorneys’ fees and only 8% went to policyholders.
What are my options?
Greene & Associates is actively working on securing new policies for all of our Southern Fidelity policy holders. Due to this liquidation occurring during hurricane season and the short time constraints, the state is offering a policy through Citizens Property Insurance and deferring any inspections for 90 days as a safety net for these policy holders. After the 90 days the coverage will remain in force but the policy may be set up for nonrenewal until the inspection is provided. If your are a current client of Greene & Associates and would like to explore the option of starting a citizens policy please send an email to citizens@greeeneinsurance.com and include the policy holders name on your Southern Fidelity policy, your property location address and you best contact phone number. To get started on insuring your home with a new private carrier please click HERE and submit your information so that one of our agents can assist you with finding new coverage.
We understand first hand how troubling this situation can be and we appreciate your patience as we work with our policy holders to secure replacement coverages.