Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Georgia Insurance Chief Says to Prepare for Hurricane Michael; State of Emergency Issued
Oct 10 2018 // Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared a State of Emergency Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Michael, which was expected to slam Florida as a Category 4 storm then travel northeast towards Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday...
Duke Energy Braces for Second Hurricane Hit as Michael Nears Florida
Oct 10 2018 // Utilities are warning that lights in the Carolinas may go out for the second time in a month, thanks to Hurricane Michael. Duke Energy Corp. said Michael may trigger outages, some lasting for several days, in North...
Fast-Moving Hurricane Michael, Now Category 4, Threatens Florida Panhandle
Oct 10 2018 // Hurricane Michael, with winds strengthening to 145 miles an hour, is poised to be the strongest storm to hit the continental U.S. since 2004, with a life-threatening surge and the potential to cause $16 billion in...
Florida Regulator Urges Insurers to Respond Quickly After Michael, Says 500K Insureds At Risk
Oct 10 2018 // Fast-moving Hurricane Michael is expected to be a significant storm for the Florida Gulf Coast, and the state’s top insurance regulator says the insurance industry is ready to respond to whatever destruction it may...
Update: Hurricane Michael Could Bring 12 Ft. Storm Surge to Panhandle Wednesday
Oct 9 2018 // Michael is forecast to become the second hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. in a month as it heads toward Florida with winds of 90 miles per hour. The fast-moving storm has already sent cotton prices to a one-week high...
Hurricane Michael Headed Towards Florida Panhandle, 13 Killed by Storm in Central America
Oct 9 2018 // Florida’s governor mobilized National Guard troops and ordered Gulf Coast residents to head inland or evacuate as Hurricane Michael churned toward shore on Monday, with the storm forecast to strengthen rapidly before...
CoreLogic: 57K Homes in Florida Totaling $13.B RCV At Risk from Hurricane Michael
Oct 9 2018 // At least 57,000 homes along Florida’s Gulf Coast with a reconstruction cost value (RCV) of about $13.4 billion are a potential risk of storm surge damage from Hurricane Michael, according to a data analysis released...
Florida Activates Disaster Fraud Teams Ahead of Hurricane Michael
Oct 8 2018 // The Florida Department of Financial Services Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team (DFAST) has been activated ahead of what is expected to become Hurricane Michael and will be deployed in the affected areas to protect...
Red Tide Affecting Both Sides of Florida’s Coasts, Expected to Linger
Oct 8 2018 // Red tide is expected to linger along Florida’s Atlantic and Gulf coasts at moderate levels at least through early this week. Most South Florida beaches were open Friday with warnings posted about the toxic algae. The...
Update: Florida Calls Emergency Ahead of Expected Hurricane Michael
Oct 7 2018 // Michael, the tropical storm that’s been chugging toward the Florida panhandle, is now a hurricane, threatening to bring driving rain and high winds to the region’s agricultural and tourism industry. While Gulf...
Florida Disaster Fraud Team Makes Arrest Over $30K in Fraudulent Irma Claims
Oct 5 2018 // A Palmetto Bay, Fla., man was arrested last month for allegedly defrauding Citizens Property Insurance Corp. of more than $30,000 relating to Hurricane Irma, according to a statement from Florida Chief Financial...
Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty Acquires Spencer Insurance Agency of Florida
Oct 5 2018 // Florida-based Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty, Inc. has acquired Spencer Insurance Agency LLC, headquartered in Hobe Sound, Fla. Spencer Insurance Agency has been serving the Eastern coast of Florida for over 25...
Florida Woman Arrested Over $50K Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Oct 4 2018 // A Florida woman was arrested in August and charged with three felony counts of concealing payroll to avoid workers’ compensation premiums and two felony counts of application fraud, according to a statement from the...
American Traditions Insurance Launches Renters Policy in Florida
Oct 3 2018 // American Traditions Insurance Co. (ATIC) has launched a renters (HO4) product in the Florida marketplace. The HO4 product will be available through independent agents currently participating with the carrier. The renters...
2 Recent Florida Supreme Court Rulings Could Impact Insurance Industry
Oct 2 2018 // Two recent decisions from the Florida Supreme Court that reversed rulings by the same District Court of Appeal will have a serious impact on the insurance industry. The consequential rulings came on Sept. 20, 2018 in the...
Why Hospitals Charge Auto Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Patients Much More Than Health Insurers
Oct 1 2018 // Insurer market power matters in hospital pricing. Patients with automobile, workers’ compensation, and other non-conventional commercial insurance plans paid much higher prices than patients with HMO/PPO health...
20 People Arrested in Florida in ‘Operation Hot Water’ Workers’ Comp Fraud Sting
Oct 1 2018 // Twenty individuals were arrested in Florida in a workers’ compensation insurance fraud sting operation involving unlicensed contractors in Pasco County in “Operation Hot Water,” according to a statement...
Maximum Taps Searcy to Open New Office in Jacksonville, Florida
Oct 1 2018 // Maximum, an independent excess and surplus lines wholesaler, has opened its second office in Florida which will be run under the the leadership of Anthony Searcy. The new office will be based in Jacksonville. Anthony...
Business Moves
Oct 1 2018 // Marsh & McLennan, JLT Marsh & McLennan Inc. agreed to buy Jardine Lloyd Thompson for about $5.7 billion to expand its global offering of reinsurance and consulting services. New York-based Marsh said the purchase...
New Property Insurer, Journey, to Include Texas in Initial Roll Out
Sep 28 2018 // Texas is one of three states in which a new property/casualty insurance company plans its initial roll out. In addition to Texas, Florida-based Journey Insurance Co., formed by United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UPC...
