Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
6 Injured After Florida Roller Coaster Derails, Plunges Riders 34 Feet
Jun 18 2018 // A roller coaster that derailed in Florida had been put out of service by state inspectors twice in the past year and a half because of problems with the ride. Two riders fell 34 feet (10 meters) when their car derailed...
Florida Restoration Contractor Arrested Over $140K AOB Fraud Scheme
Jun 13 2018 // A restoration contractor company owner has been arrested over an alleged assignment of benefits (AOB) fraud scheme that impacted 19 homeowners in eight Florida counties and one Texas county, according to a statement from...
Florida-Based SUNZ Holdings Acquires Ascential Care Partners
Jun 12 2018 // SUNZ Holdings, headquartered in Bradenton, Fla., has acquired Ascential Care Partners, LLC, a national URAC accredited case management and utilization review company. The purchase and associated capital contribution...
Report: Florida Led Nation in Boating Accidents, Deaths in 2017
Jun 8 2018 // Officials say the number of boating accidents in Florida is rising. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last month released its annual boating accident report that showed that there was a nearly 14...
Florida Judge Lifts Stay on Smokable Medical Marijuana
Jun 8 2018 // Floridians allowed to use medical marijuana are one step closer to being able to smoke it. Leon County circuit court Judge Karen Gievers on Tuesday lifted a stay on her May 25 ruling that the Florida Legislature’s...
Former Florida Insurance Chief McCarty Joins Assured Risk Cover Board of Advisors
Jun 7 2018 // Assured Risk Cover, provider of StormPeace residential parametric insurance, has announced that former Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has joined its board of advisors. McCarty served as Florida’s first...
Commentary: Reforms Needed to Protect Florida Policyholders
Jun 7 2018 // Like thousands of other Floridians, I recently received my homeowner’s insurance renewal statement only to learn that my premium was increasing by a double-digit percentage – nearly $600 annually. But like most...
Negligence or Medical Negligence? Florida Supreme Court Offers Clarity
Jun 6 2018 // Whether a claim arises out of medical negligence and is subject to the presuit screening requirements of Chapter 766 of the Florida Statutes is a question legal practitioners and courts alike have struggled with for...
Florida Man Gets 20 Years, Ordered to Pay $1.9M in Restitution for Arson Scheme
Jun 5 2018 // A Florida man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in an arson insurance fraud scheme that spanned multiple Florida counties and was ordered to pay $1.9 million towards restitution to the more than 14...
Florida Officials Enact Few Changes for 2018 Hurricane Season
Jun 4 2018 // Florida’s governor and Legislature promised a dizzying array of fixes following the devastation of last year’s hurricanes. But heading into a new storm season, the state has enacted only a few changes – the...
Florida Insurers American Traditions, Modern USA Merge
Jun 4 2018 // American Traditions Insurance Co. (ATIC) has merged with its affiliate Modern USA Insurance Co. The two companies were launched under similar ownership shortly after the 2005 hurricane season to provide additional...
Workers’ Comp : Healthy Underwriting Gain, Premium Growth Blockage
Jun 4 2018 // Workers’ compensation insurers are managing their premiums dollars better than they have in years, but those premium dollars are stagnating even as employment and wages are rising. In 2017, for the fourth consecutive...
Cities Still Owed Funds from Last Hurricane Season as New Season Gets Underway
Jun 1 2018 // Allen Owen, the mayor of Missouri City, Texas, wants to do more to protect his town from the next disaster. But the city hasn’t gotten any of the roughly $1 million in federal disaster funds he said it’s owed...
Crane Collapse on Homes in Florida Injures 2
Jun 1 2018 // Authorities say at least two people were injured when a crane collapsed on two homes in a Florida neighborhood. Lauderhill Fire Rescue Capt. Jerry Gonzalez says the crane was being used to put up Florida Power & Light...
What the Florida Industry Needs to Know for the 2018 Hurricane Season
Jun 1 2018 // The 2018 hurricane season is officially underway, even as the dust continues to settle on the 2017 hurricane season — one of the costliest hurricane years on record — that brought devastation to Florida from Hurricane...
CoreLogic: Texas, Louisiana Highly Vulnerable to Hurricane Storm Surge Losses
May 31 2018 // Texas and Louisiana are among the top three states for potential storm surge losses at the start of the 2018 hurricane season, which begins on June 1. That’s according to Irvine, California-based CoreLogic, a...
Cigarette Ignites Large Fire at Florida Condo Complex, 10 Units Destroyed
May 31 2018 // A large fire at a Florida condominium complex has destroyed at least 10 units. The Martin County sheriff’s office says a section of the Cedar Pointe Villages complex in Stuart was engulfed by flames on Monday night....
Florida Activates Anti-Fraud Teams in Wake of Tropical Storm Alberto
May 30 2018 // The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team (DFSAT) have been deployed across the state to protect Floridians from post-storm fraud that could occur in the aftermath of Tropical...
Alberto Weakens to Depression, Moving North Across Alabama
May 29 2018 // Storm Alberto weakened to a subtropical depression, moving across central Alabama after making landfall in the Florida Panhandle and bringing heavy rains that threaten the U.S. South with economic losses of $1...
Florida Judge Rules State’s Smokable Medical Marijuana Ban Unconstitutional
May 29 2018 // Florida’s ban that prevents medical marijuana patients from smoking their cannabis has gone up in smoke. Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers on Friday ruled that a state’s ban on smokable cannabis is...
