In 2023, the Florida Legislature made a catastrophic mistake that is now hurting thousands of Floridians. They handed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — our state-run insurer of last resort — the ability to force policyholders into administrative arbitration at the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) instead of letting disputes be decided by a jury of their peers. The results have been exactly what consumer advocates warned about: A complete, one-sided sham process where Citizens wins 100% of the time.
Background: How Citizens Was Created
Citizens was formed in 2002. The Florida Legislature merged two state entities into a new government-run insurer: Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The mission was simple: provide insurance to policyholders who could not find it elsewhere. Citizens was never supposed to compete with private insurers or exploit consumers. It was meant to be a safety net — nothing more. Fast-forward two decades, and Citizens has morphed into a massive, powerful entity with over a million policies, political muscle in Tallahassee, and a track record of aggressively denying and underpaying claims with impunity because it is not subject to any unfair claims practice or bad faith lawsuits.
How DOAH Arbitration Came Into Play
Citizens executives conceived of a plan that instead of letting disgruntled policyholders take them to court — where a jury might award fair damages — Citizens wanted to drag disputes into a government-run administrative system. Government administrative judges would rule on a government entity about how much was owed under the policy.
Here is how they pulled it off: On February 1, 2023, Citizens quietly rolled out a new policy endorsement allowing either party to demand arbitration through DOAH. The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) approved the new forms, but that approval was not enough. Citizens’ authority comes strictly from statute, and nothing in existing law explicitly allowed DOAH arbitration. In May 2023, the Florida Legislature passed new legislation to give Citizens explicit statutory authority to use DOAH arbitration, shielding the program from legal challenges.
At the time, Citizens sold the idea to Florida’s legislators and promised that DOAH arbitration would be faster, cheaper, and fair for everyone. Other policyholder attorneys and I warned legislators that it was a trap. We warned that it would strip policyholders of the right to a neutral forum and stack the deck in Citizens’ favor.
In a post, Will Citizens Property Insurance Disputes Be Handled By Government Administrative Judges, I warned about the following:
Florida’s leader in tough claims handling and policyholder abuse is Citizens Property Insurance. It is immune from accountability to Florida Statutes regarding wrongful claims handling conduct. Like a thief with no laws against robbery, Citizens can do what it wants and not be liable to the victim. Now, Citizens Property wants more protection from accountability to contract obligations by sending its claims disputes to Florida’s administrative courts.
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This is another way people lose rights. Governments have historically wanted their own government judges to decide matters—governments do not trust juries. Citizens will argue that the contractual obligations mandate this scenario, as if the policyholder had any say in the policy language which disposes of a person’s right to a jury trial.
I spoke out against this law again on behalf of the Florida Justice Association just two weeks ago. I testified to the Florida House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee that the law should never have been passed in 2023, and that Citizens should never have been granted this ability to avoid accountability in front of a jury.
New statistics prove we were right.
The Brutal Reality: Citizens Steamrolls Policyholders
38 DOAH arbitration cases involving Citizens where a decision was reached reveals a devastating pattern. Citizens has won 100 percent of cases. Zero arbitration awards have been rendered in favor of policyholders. DOAH arbitration has resulted in no money awards to policyholders. A sample of the analysis is attached.
In at least six cases, Citizens was awarded fees and costs even when the policyholder voluntarily withdrew their claims.
This is not a fair or balanced system. It is legalized bullying. The administrative law judges at DOAH — appointed by the state — are put in the position of deciding cases involving a government-created insurer. The bias may be subconscious, but the outcomes are unmistakable. Policyholders do not stand a chance. Once Citizens demands DOAH arbitration, the fight is over before it starts.
Why This Process Must Be Abolished — Immediately
The 2023 legislation created a rigged system that Citizens has weaponized against Florida’s homeowners. Policyholders have been stripped of their constitutional right to a jury trial, dragged into an administrative forum stacked against them, and punished for merely asserting their rights. The statistics do not lie.
When one side wins 100 percent of the time, and policyholders are getting slammed with legal fees even when they withdraw, the system is broken beyond repair. The Legislature created this disaster. They must fix it — right now, during the current legislative session.
It is time to abolish Citizens’ DOAH arbitration authority. Restore Floridians’ right to take their disputes to a real court, in front of a real jury. Anything less is a betrayal of the homeowners the Legislature is supposed to protect. Enough is enough.
I want to give a big shout-out to policyholder attorney Michael Fischetti, who prepared this analysis. Michael is a contender in my book because not only has he spoken out about this wrongful law and unfair dispute resolution practice, he took action and made this very valuable analysis proving the point. The world needs more contenders and not social media pretenders.
Thought For The Day
“Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.”
—Robert F. Kennedy
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