Jay man allegedly increased home insurance policy, then set his house on fire

A Jay man charged with arson and insurance fraud is accused of drastically increasing the coverage of his home's insurance policy not long before dousing the house in gasoline and setting it on fire.

Michael Jameson, 43, was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of arson and two counts of insurance fraud. He was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail with a $275,000 bond. County records indicated he remained in custody as of Thursday.

According to an arrest report, a detective with the Florida Department of Financial Services' Bureau of Insurance Fraud launched investigation into Jameson after evidence was discovered in the ashen rubble of his house suggesting he intentionally sent fire to his own home. 

Appraiser records show that the house at 4391 Curt Lane in Jay was purchased under the name of Jameson's wife in June 2019.

The same home was consumed by a fire in August 2019.

The report stated that before the house was even purchased by Jameson and his family, he sent an email to an insurance agent asking, “Can we increase the policy on the Curt Lane property? I would want the deductible to be as high as possible liability payments as low as possible. 550,000 on property, 325,000 on contents and 50,000 on loss of use.”

Investigators later discovered that the coverage limits were ultimately raised for a "combined coverage limits total" of $1,042,160, according to the report.

After the home was lost in a fire Aug. 12, 2019, detectives with the Bureau of Fire, Arson and Explosive Investigations were dispatched to the scene to conduct an investigation into the cause of the blaze and its origin.

They identified “three separate, non-communicating fires in the garage, basement stairwell and on the sofa in the basement," the report stated.

One detective observed “wooden fence boards in the foyer coat closet and a hole that had been cut out of the drywall looking down into the basement stairwell,” the report stated.

Detectives also discovered that cardboard and pieces of cloth had been placed in between wooden pallets and fence boards piled on top of the basement sofa, and samples taken from the burnt house later tested positive for the presence of gasoline, according to the report.

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.