HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – The tri-county youth football and cheer league has 17 teams in Pasco, Hillsborough, and Polk counties and has nearly three thousand children involved in its programs.
The league takes out insurance each year to protect all involved.
“We had purchased from a broker called Gagliardi Sports Insurance. We’ve been with them for a while,” said Chantel Negron who is a parent volunteer with the league.
Negron says the league spent more than $28,000 on a variety of policies.
“We purchase general liability, accidental health insurance, our officer and director insurance goes through them as well,” said Negron.
Recently a parent had problems collecting on a claim and when the league tried to contact their broker, they discovered the broker has closed its business.
“There is a message that the company had closed and they list a different company to refer you if are a new client and if you are an existing client that they would be in contact with you,” said Negron.
A message on the Gagliardi web page reads:
“Dear valued Gagliardi clients, we regret to inform you that due to unforeseen circumstances related to COVID-19 we have decided that after decades of service, to close down Gagliardi insurance services. We have enjoyed serving each and every one of our clients over the years and consider everyone family.”
Attempts to contact Gagliardi about the problem have not been successful. However, the league believes the company has closed it’s business for other reasons.
“We found out that they were involved in a lawsuit for fraudulent reinsurance, so they are being sued by some other insurance companies,” said Negron.
The league had to spend additional money with another company to continue their operations.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is now investigating the issue.
