TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis' office warned anyone dealing with Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Company to not try to cash or deposit any checks issued by the insurer after Bank of America ended its banking relationship with Avatar.
The insurance company is in receivership for purposes of liquidation, Patronis' office said, but Bank of America elected not to honor any Avatar issued or mailed checks prior to liquidation.
"Anytime policyholders have to deal with their insurer going out of business, it’s a challenging situation, but unfortunately Bank of America is making things even worse," Patronis said. "The bank has outright declined to process checks already in the hands of policyholders so if someone has recently gotten a check from Avatar, we’re asking policyholders to not cash, or deposit, those checks."
Patronis said the customers will still get their money if they have a valid claim. However, the money will come from the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association and could take some time.
Avatar was put into receivership on March 14 and had approximately 37,000 policies at that time.
