Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Approves 13.8% Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease
Nov 13 2018 // A revised workers compensation rate filing for a 13.8 percent decrease by the National Council on Compensation Insurance has been approved by Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier. The amended filing to...
AmeriTrust Group Acquires Florida-Based Signature Insurance Agency
Nov 9 2018 // AmeriTrust Group, Inc.’s retail agency subsidiary Meadowbrook Insurance Agency has acquired Sarasota, Fla.-based Carol P. Rummel Insurance Agency, (dba Signature Insurance Agency), effective Oct. 29th, 2018. As part...
One Month Later, Power Fully Restored to Florida Residents Hit by Michael
Nov 9 2018 // Utilities are reporting that all power has been restored in the Florida counties devastated by Hurricane Michael. The utility companies and cooperatives reported Tuesday to the Public Service Commission that they had zero...
Florida Workers’ Comp Rates to Decrease by Double-Digits in 2019
Nov 7 2018 // Florida workers’ compensation rates are going down again next year, the third decrease in the two years since significant Florida Supreme Court decisions created concern and uncertainty over future of the...
Run-Off Venture SOBC Darag Completes First Acquisition of Florida Auto Insurer Peachtree
Nov 7 2018 // SOBC DARAG, the joint venture formed between SOBC, the US-based run-off specialist, and DARAG, the leading legacy acquirer, has completed of its first acquisition of Peachtree Casualty Insurance Co. of Florida. The...
2 Residents, Staff Member Hurt in Florida Nursing Home Fire
Nov 5 2018 // Authorities say a fire broke out in a South Florida nursing home, injuring two residents and a staff member. The SunSentinel reports more than 100 people were evacuated when the fire started in a resident’s room...
Windhaven Insurance of Florida Appoints Rosilier as Chief Financial Officer
Nov 5 2018 // Windhaven Insurance has named John D. Rosilier as chief financial officer of the Miami-based auto insurance carrier, according to Jimmy E. Whited, CEO of Windhaven Insurance & The Hearth Insurance Group. In this new...
Regulators, Industry Seek to Keep Florida AOB Abuse in Check After Michael
Nov 5 2018 // In an effort to keep the Florida assignment of benefits (AOB) crisis from further worsening in the state, Florida’s insurance industry, regulators and consumer advocates are on high alert for AOB activity in the wake...
Georgia Farmers Face Long Recovery From Hurricane Michael Crop Losses
Nov 2 2018 // Hurricane Michael left a snowy landscape of ruined white cotton on Georgia’s red clay, destroying a crop and likely bringing hard times to the region’s many small communities built on agriculture. When the...
Suit Filed in Florida Against Tesla Claims Autopilot Failed, Caused Crash
Nov 1 2018 // A Florida man says the autopilot feature of his Tesla vehicle failed to detect a disabled car on a highway, leading to a collision that left him with permanent injuries, according to a negligence lawsuit filed...
Florida Insured Losses from Hurricane Michael Top $2B, And Growing
Nov 1 2018 // Total estimated insured losses from Hurricane Michael have reached more than $2.1 billion, according to the most recent data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. The current number of claims from Hurricane...
Weather, Wildfire Claims an Increasing Share of Home Insurance Losses
Oct 31 2018 // U.S homeowners insurers saw an increase in both the number of losses and the percentage of those losses that resulted from an extreme weather event during 2017. According to a LexisNexis Home Trends report, loss costs...
A.M. Best Upgrades Ratings of Workers’ Comp Insurers Retail First, BusinessFirst of Florida
Oct 31 2018 // A.M. Best has upgraded the financial strength ratings of two workers’ compensation insurers based in Florida. RetailFirst Insurance Co. and BusinessFirst Insurance Co. have received a financial strength ratings of A-...
Hurricane Michael Death Toll Now at 35 in Florida, 45 Total
Oct 30 2018 // Florida authorities have linked six more deaths to Hurricane Michael, raising the state’s death toll to 35. The storm’s overall death toll now stands at 45, with 10 deaths in other states. Florida Emergency...
Florida Fraud Strike Team Targets Unlicensed Contractors in Panhandle
Oct 30 2018 // Three contractors conducting business in Leon, Gadsden, and Gulf counties have been removed from the Panhandle by the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team for unlicensed...
Damage to Florida Crops from Hurricane Michael to Total $158M
Oct 29 2018 // A new study says Florida crops suffered $158 million in damages from Hurricane Michael. The report released Friday by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences says that almost all of the...
OSHA Fines Florida Farm Over Worker’s Death by Lightning
Oct 26 2018 // Officials say the farm that employed a Florida woman fatally struck by lightning has been cited for failing to protect workers. A U.S. Department of Labor news release says Occupational Health and Safety Administration...
Red Tide Plaguing Florida Beaches Spreads to Space Coast
Oct 26 2018 // A toxic algae bloom has reached Florida’s Space Coast. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said red tide had reached parts of Brevard County. The wildlife commission says red tide now spans from...
Survey: Florida Keys Population Fell by Nearly 3K After Hurricane Irma
Oct 25 2018 // An annual population survey in the Florida Keys shows how many people left the island chain after Hurricane Irma last year. The Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida found that every Keys...
Florida Death Toll From Hurricane Michael Climbs to 29
Oct 24 2018 // Authorities in Florida say Hurricane Michael has killed at least 29 people in the state, bringing the overall death toll to 39. Florida Emergency Management Division spokesman Alberto Moscoso says the state toll stood at...
