The CEO of state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. on Wednesday lashed out at criticism over over the company’s use of an alternative arbitration panel to decide claims disputes. He called accusations of unfairness an effort by some plaintiffs attorneys to overturn reforms that have returned profitability to Florida’s property insurance industry.

But Tim Cerio, Citizens president and CEO, spent little time discussing a key accusation that the process violates policyholders’ constitutional right to have a jury determine resolution of their disputes. That claim, in a lawsuit by a policyholder whose dispute was sent to the panel, caused a Hillsborough County circuit court judge to issue an injunction in July preventing the company from using the process while the case proceeds.

In a

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