Insurance cliams moving quicly in florida

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - Major insurance company heads and Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher toured Charlotte County on Thursday to assess the county hardest hit by Hurricane Charley, offering optimism that insurance providers would help residents repair their lives.

The visit came as thousands of insurance adjusters spread across the 25 counties affected by the storm. Charley has caused an estimated $7.4 billion in damage to homes, businesses and personal possessions, more than any other hurricane in Florida since Andrew, which ravaged South Florida in 1992.



Gallagher recalled that it took years for many insurance claims to be paid following Andrew, and ``six to eight months before we got a handle on it.'' But this time, technology is helping speed along the claims process, even as some Charlotte residents lack phone service and electricity.

Still, most owners of property damaged by Charley will have to pay more out of their pockets than Andrew's victims did. Instead of set dollar deductibles, which were the standard before Andrew, policies now have deductibles based on a percentage of the insured property, which generally require the insured to pay a larger portion of the damage.

Hours before Gallagher's arrival, Roy and Jean Serrentino were trying to figure out how to begin the claim process on the mobile home where the retired couple has wintered for the last 12 years. They had just finished the 1,544 mile drive from Wellfleet, Mass., and weren't sure how to find a local Allstate agent.

But while driving through downtown, they spotted one of five mobile offices that Allstate had set up in the area. They pulled in, an adjuster immediately verified their policy, gave them a claim number and they were on their way out to the house to do an initial assessment.



They are concerns and questions that follow any major disaster. But what is new, however, is the speed at which insurance companies can begin addressing claims. The satellite-equipped units quickly set up by Allstate and other companies after Charley blew through Friday provide all the resources of a regular office.



Charley has killed 22 people in Florida and state officials said more than 335,000 customers were without power Thursday. Residents in Charlotte were expected to have their electricity fully restored by Aug. 29.

As the massive clean up continued, Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson issued subpoenas Thursday to a Bradenton Exxon station and the Davie energy company that supplies its fuel to address complaints of price-gouging. His office said it had received 510 complaints of price-gouging.



Secretary of State Glenda Hood, meanwhile, said Charley would not delay voting in the upcoming Aug. 31 primary, addressing concerns of delays in the affected counties.

With many victims beginning to file insurance claims, Doug Robinett, president of Nationwide, who joined Gallagher on the tour, said he expected 95 percent of their claims to be paid out within three months.



Several tables were set up outside the insurance companies' mobile offices in a parking lot near a local Allstate agent. Many victims have been given checks of $2,000 to $3,000 on the spot to help with a food, a place to stay and other needs while claims are processed.



Kirby, who has worked several disasters, compared what he has seen to Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into South Carolina in 1989 causing $7 billion in damage. He has been called to homes with a wide range of damage here, the worst being a house a few miles from downtown.