The second largest property insurer in Florida, Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company, has agreed to pay a substantial fine of $1.26 million, for engaging in unsavory business practices.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced Monday that, Universal Property & Casualty Insurance has agreed to implement corrective action, including changes to its claims and underwriting practices.
One of the practices in which Universal Property & Casualty Insurance engaged was, “writing policies without full underwriting and then only did complete underwriting after a claim was filed.” The “post-claim underwriting” resulted in some policyholders having unpaid claims or having coverage cancelled without sufficient notice.
Going forward, the company has now agreed to perform full underwriting within the first 90 days after the effective date of a new policy. It has also agreed to review nearly 300 claims it previously denied, based on misrepresentation.
Universal Property & Casualty Insurance has over 542,000 policyholders and is one of the most active writers with more than $765 million in annual written premiums. Only Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has more policyholders.
