INSURANCE TRAP

Re the Dec. 12 article “Citizens insurance is boosting rates. Nearly all policyholders will see an increase.” This is top dollar marketing from Citizens to gain public support in order to adopt legislation that will hinder the ability to sue insurance companies.

The reason there’s so much litigation against insurance companies, especially homeowner’s insurance, is because insurance companies don’t pay what they’ve promised to their policyholders.

The day everything in your house is ruined because a pipe burst behind your wall and your insurance company refuses to pay because it alleges that the pipe was “worn and torn,” and you have to fork over $60,000 to repair and replace everything in your home, is the day you don’t mind paying an extra $200 per year for insurance so that you can sue the hell out of them.

As an attorney, I can’t tell you the number of hurricane cases I’ve seen where homeowners experienced leaks throughout their entire house after Hurricane Irma, and later their insurance company tells them that those leaks existed prior to the storm.

Citizens promotes this propaganda and couches it as something aimed at benefiting consumers when, in reality, it’s only consumers who will suffer in the long run. What good is paying low premiums if your insurance company won’t cover anything in the event of a loss — especially if there’s nothing consumers can do about it once it happens?

– Francisco Cieza, Coral Gables