Did Florida’s CFO Call Public Adjusters Despicable?

There must have been a lot of “at a boy” congratulatory text messages from insurance industry lobbyists to Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis after they read the Insurance Journal article, Florida CFO Issues Order on ‘Despicable’ Public Adjusters as Debby Floods Carolinas. But did Jimmy Patronis really refer to public adjusters as despicable in a public statement?

Patronis issued an Order extending the time for policyholders to rescind a public adjuster contract to 30 days after Hurricane Debby. His ability to do so is found in Florida law, which suggests that this will be standard procedure after an emergency declaration by Florida’s governor.

However, the Insurance Journal reported on Patronis saying this:

‘Following any disaster, fly-by-night contractors and so-called claims representatives will swoop into a storm-impacted area and try to come between you and your insurance policy,’ Patronis said in the statement. ‘Most of the time, these bad actors give legitimate adjusters and contractors a bad name and are only in it to make a quick buck off vulnerable Floridians. It’s truly despicable.’

To me, I did not read that as him saying that public adjusters are despicable. Instead, the situation of scammers ripping off victims of a catastrophe seems to be what he is referring to.

To be fair to the editors of the Insurance Journal, I could not find the exact quote after running searches.

For the record, if he was referring to licensed public adjusters helping policyholders and if he intended to call them despicable, I stand up for those “despicables.”