Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis’ Rundown ……………..

Floridians,

As COVID-19 continues to threaten Floridians and our communities, I wanted to take a moment and update you on the department’s ongoing activities as we are working to provide relief to Florida families and businesses during this public health emergency. My top priority is protecting consumers, supporting our first responders and cracking down on fraud, and I will continue working with our fire service community and insurance and financial regulators to combat this crisis.

Our DFS staff are standing by remotely to serve you. Call 1-877-MY-FL-CFO for assistance and visit MyFloridaCFO.com/coronavirus/ for important resources for individuals and businesses.

CFO Patronis’ COVID-19 Directives and Response

Deploying Safeguards for Employing Insurance Agents During COVID-19 Crisis

The CFO issued a directive that provides the Division of Agent and Agency Services with the ability to begin processing insurance agent licenses in a manner that promotes job growth and protects consumers. This directive gives insurance agencies the ability to hire new agents who have completed all the other requirements to obtain a license, but are unable to take the state exam because of this virus. These individuals will be thoroughly vetted by the Division of Agent and Agency Services and if they meet the requirements to obtain a license, the Division would issue applicants a temporary license pending examination.

Ensuring Firefighters have Resources Needed to Protect Communities and Providing Data Vital to COVID-19 for Response Efforts
The CFO continues to be in constant contact with Florida firefighters to assist with challenges they face during this public health emergency. Recently, the CFO held a call with firefighters and discussed data collection measures to better understand workforce impacts to Fire Departments statewide due to COVID-19.

Requesting Federal Help in Identifying Chinese Assets Held in Unclaimed Property
The CFO sent a letter to U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo requesting help in obtaining information of assets that may be owned or controlled by the Chinese government, yet housed in the Florida Treasury as unclaimed property.

Demanding Financial Restitution from China Due to COVID-19 Outbreak
The CFO sent a demand letter to Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai to demand financial restitution from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for significant harm to the State of Florida and its residents related to CPC’s incompetent and fraudulent actions in response to the early outbreak of COVID-19.

Again, I would like to thank our dedicated first responders and health care professionals for their continued heroic efforts in responding to this public health emergency. We are in this together and thank you for all you do!

Sincerely,  Jimmy

P.S. I was contacted by a friend over the weekend who was excited to tell me that he recently found $10,000 in unclaimed property for his business! I encourage all individuals and business owners in Florida to go search for unclaimed property NOW at FLTreasureHunt.gov. It’s completely free and you could have money just waiting to be claimed!