Former Poe Policyholders Suing Florida Guaranty Assoc.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed in South Florida against the Florida Guaranty Association (FIGA) by homeowners to keep their cases ongoing.

FIGA is handling claims for three defunct Poe Financial insurance companies - Atlantic Preferred, Florida Preferred and Southern Family. Attorneys for the homeowners say many of the claims could have been settled before a June 2 deadline to file or possibly lose a claim if FIGA had negotiated.

FIGA, which has a notice on its Web site (www.figafacts.com) regarding the deadline to file, responded that it had been working many hours a day to settle as many of the claims possible before the June 2 deadline. Former Poe policyholders who missed the June 2 deadline would reportedly be unable to seek additional claims from those policies.

State regulators took charge of the Poe companies in June 2006 and liquidated them. FIGA inherited unresolved claims in June of '06 and any new or reopened claims.

FIGA, which has reportedly paid out (gross figure) nearly $1.5 billion on Poe-related claims, instituted a 2 percent assessment in 2007 on all insurance policies statewide to raise additional money to pay claims.