![\"Lawmaker](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/F1679462A6350A0AA51EFB5D7EC7DA60.jpg\")
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RUSKIN, Fla. – Nicholle Kvocka of Ruskin<\/a> discovered her Citizens Insurance policy included fine print that denied her the right to sue in court. When fire damage to her home occurred during Hurricane Helene<\/a>, Citizens declined to cover it.\u00a0<\/p>\n The dispute was sent to Florida’s Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), where Kvocka said the ruling went against her despite engineers confirming fire damage occurred.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: Tampa family reaches insurance settlement after FOX 13 investigation<\/a><\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n Attorney Christopher Fauntleroy, representing the Kvockas and other Citizens policyholders, said homeowners rarely prevail in DOAH. Under a 2023 law, Citizens can channel disputes into this administrative process, where judges and their staff who hear the disputes are funded by the insurer itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n Losing homeowners may also be responsible for Citizens\u2019 legal fees.<\/p>\n What we don’t know:<\/p>\n The outcome of the federal investigation<\/a> requested by U.S. Rep. Frost is still pending.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ: Wimauma family sells belongings following Medicaid denials in cancer battle<\/a><\/p>\n The other side:<\/p>\n Citizens Insurance and state officials have defended the DOAH process as a method to streamline disputes and reduce costs. Proponents argue administrative hearings can resolve claims faster than traditional courts, though homeowners say the process is confusing and opaque.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n Citizens ability to direct cases to DOAH is facing a legal challenge. A judicial stay currently prevents Citizens from sending more disputes to DOAH while a final ruling is pending.\u00a0<\/p>\n The outcome will determine how state-run insurance disputes are handled in Florida.<\/p>\n The Source: This report is based on state documents, interviews with homeowner Nicholle Kvocka and attorney Christopher Fauntleroy, and investigative reporting by Fox 13\u2019s Craig Patrick.<\/p>\n Hillsborough County<\/a>Housing<\/a>Hurricane Helene<\/a>FOX 13 Investigates<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RUSKIN, Fla. – Nicholle Kvocka of Ruskin discovered her Citizens Insurance policy included fine print that denied her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[47,28,30,29,22841,629,1644,3125,944,115,405,628,221],"class_list":["post-33884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-fox13-investigates","tag-hillsborough","tag-housing","tag-hurricane-helene","tag-hurricanes","tag-news","tag-series","tag-us","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/citizens-.jpg\")
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