CFO Sink’s Office Opens Inquiry after Front Page Feature

Rearden Killion Communications placed this front-page feature that ran in last Sunday’s issue of the St. Petersburg Times—The State’s largest circulation newspaper.

The feature documented some of the hardships experienced by 43 low-income south-central Florida families hit by Hurricane Charlie and subsequently grossly underpaid by their insurer, United Casualty, a division of Unitrin. The story (click here to read it online) documents how some lived in their cars while others continue to live in damaged, unhealthy homes. Policyholder Roosevelt Brady, who continues to pay Unitrin for partial coverage, lost his wife to pneumonia as a result of living in mold-infested conditions.

Based in Chicago, Unitrin has a branded glass tower at the prestigious address of One Wacker Drive. With each policy at a max of $30,000 to $50,000, the company, which had $3 billion in revenues in 2006, would have been looking at a total payout of less than $250,000. Yet, the company decided to shortchange policyholders it saw as not having the means to fight.

Enter the Merlin Law Group, which is taking the case minus its usual contingency fee as, according to attorney David Pettinato, “They need all these monies to rebuild their lives.”

Thanks to the good reporting of journalist Tom Zucco, the State’s Department of Financial Services has began an inquiry into the Company’s practices (as noted in this follow up story) and is finding several discrepancies—including an attempt to cancel policies at the beginning of the 2007 hurricane season—an illegal act according to Florida law.

Stay tuned. This is going to get interesting.