Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Shaw will host a roundtable inJanuary to discuss property appraisal issues. The group will meeton Wednesday, Jan. 6, from 10 am to noon and again from 1 pm to 3pm in Committee Room 4 of the House Office Building, Tallahassee.Shaw, who has been visible and quotable since his appointment, saidin a release that, "Recently, several insurance companies haveamended or removed the appraisal provision from their policies. Theappraisal process had been considered to be a cost-effectiveprocess for resolving claim disputes, but has been highlycriticized in recent years. The roundtable will work to identifycomplications with the current appraisal process and makerecommendations on how to improve the appraisal process so that itcan again be a viable dispute resolution process."

Invited participants include:
– Sean M. Shaw, Esq., Insurance Consumer Advocate,Tallahassee
– Johnny L. Moore, Esq., Deputy Insurance Consumer Advocate
– R. Terry Butler, Senior Attorney, Office of the InsuranceConsumer Advocate
– Art Newman, Windstorm Insurance Network, Inc. (WIND), DeerfieldBeach
– Christopher N. Mammel, Esq., Childress Duffy Goldblatt, Ltd.,Orlando
– Frank Artiles J.D., LL.M., Insurance Appraisal and UmpireAssociation, Inc., Miami
– George Meros, Jr., Esq., The National Association of PublicInsurance Adjusters, Tallahassee
– Jim Reichle, Florida Insurance Council, Inc., Lake Mary
– John A. Voelpel, III, CPCU, AIC , Voelpel Claims Service, Inc.,Orlando
– Leonard "Lenny" Bauman, Florida Association of Public InsuranceAdjusters, Inc., Seminole
– Paul G. Neilson, Account Manager-Property, Travelers of Florida,Tampa
– Stephen A. Marino, Jr., Esq., Ver Ploeg & Lumpkin, P.A.,Miami
– Tim Zeak, Florida Public Adjusting, Lakeland
– William "Chip" Merlin, Jr., Esq., Merlin Law Group, Tampa
– William Stander, Regional Manager, Property Casualty InsurersAssociation of America,Tallahassee