ORLANDO, Fla. – Drivers who said their vehicles have been damaged as a result of the I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project in the Orlando area are denied claims more often than they are approved.
SGL Contractors, the company hired by the Florida Department of Transportation to overhaul Interstate 4, reports they have received 1,378 claims since the project started in 2015.
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According to numbers provided by the company, 989 – or 71%-- of those claims were denied by their insurance company for payment.
“I took the brunt of the whole hit,” said one driver.
Rosemary, who did not want to use her last name, said she is an essential worker who was on her way to work in February 2020.
That is when she said a truck kicked up construction cones near the Longwood rest stop and sent them flying toward her car.
“The cones went directly under my car and just ripped my front,” she said. “My whole total front was just messed up.”
Rosemary said she filed a claim with her insurance and with the I-4 Ultimate Project on its website.
Five months later, she said she received a letter from the insurance company for SGL denying her claim.
“There is nothing to suggest our insured caused or contributed to this loss in any way,” the letter read.
“It just went on and on and on until I said, ‘You know what? We’re not going to keep doing this,’ and I contacted you guys,” she said.
According to SGL’s records, 179 drivers have made claims to its website indicating their vehicles were damaged by construction cones or barrels.
The records show none of those claims were approved for payment.
News 6 asked SGL for a reason, and the company responded with this statement:
Rosemary said she spent more than $2,000 out of her own pocket.
“I need help. I need help. I need my money back,” she said.
One day after News 6 contacted her insurance company, she was issued a check for her deductible, but SGL’s insurance company still refuses to pay.
Be sure to keep up with News 6 Investigator Erik Sandoval on Facebook and Twitter.
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