Politics
Frank Collige: Beyond party loyalty — Florida homeowners need an independent financial watchdog
For the past year, I have traveled across Florida discussing the problems with our insurance industry, exposing issues that hurt policyholders, and offering solutions to fix them. I heard the same stories: premiums that doubled, claims that dragged on for months, checks that didn’t come close to covering the damage.
I ran for Chief Financial Officer as a Republican because of those stories.
In August, 610,860 Floridians voted for me, almost four in ten Republican Primary voters. Those votes were not about me.
They were a message: homeowners are fed up.
As a public adjuster, I see this system’s human cost up close. After Hurricane Milton, the state counted more than 385,000 claims. More than 134,000, about one in three, were closed without a dollar paid. In St. Petersburg, a family with a $713,000 policy was offered $2,279 after the 2024 storms.
Nearly two years later, they still could not go home.
Now Hurricane Isaias has hit the Panhandle, and thousands of families are starting claims under rules many have never seen. You have one year to file. If you must fight a lowball offer, the lawyer’s fee comes out of your settlement, and many attorneys now turn down smaller claims.
I am a Republican, and I am ashamed of the voting record of the Republican appointed as our CFO. As a state legislator, Blaise Ingoglia voted for legislation that I believe deprived Floridians of their constitutional right to meaningful access to the courts in disputes with insurance companies. This was not simply about reducing litigation costs or making a few procedural changes. It was about taking away a fundamental constitutional protection that allows ordinary citizens to seek justice when they have been wronged. Insurance companies already have enormous financial and legal resources.
Why would an elected official vote to take away one of the most important protections ordinary Floridians have against them?
This month I had a long, productive conversation with Annette Taddeo. We don’t agree on everything. But we share many of the same views on what must change. When I look at her voting record, I see someone who has demonstrated a willingness to stand up for Floridians, especially when it comes to insurance reform. She has pledged to publicly grade every insurance company within her first 100 days and to go after corruption in any party. Blaise Ingoglia has the press releases and the insurance industry’s money.
The CFO has significant authority to oversee Florida’s financial and insurance industries, demand accountability, investigate wrongdoing and protect consumers.
An insurance policy is a promise. You pay your premium for years and follow the rules. When the storm comes, the company owes what the policy says. Holding a company to its contract is not anti-business. It is how a free market is supposed to work.
That takes an independent financial watchdog: someone willing to ask hard questions, challenge the status quo and hold insurers accountable when they mistreat Floridians. I do not want a CFO who simply falls in line with party leadership or protects the interests of insurance companies.
I have examined enough of Ingoglia’s record to know I don’t trust him. And I am not going to pretend otherwise simply because he has an R next to his name.
My loyalty is to the people of Florida, not to a political party. Your insurance company does not check your voter registration before it denies your claim. On Nov. 3, ask who will fight for you. For me, that is Annette Taddeo.
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Dr. Frank Collige is a U.S. Air Force veteran and public adjuster from Glen St. Mary. He ran in the 2026 Republican Primary for Florida Chief Financial Officer.
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