Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Liberty Mutual’s Angle on $4.7M Refund Differs Slightly from Florida Regulators’
Jun 13 2024 // Liberty Mutual Insurance this week should complete $5.2 million in refunds, premium credits and interest payments to more than 46,000 auto insurance policyholders in Florida, the result of a market conduct examination done...
Former Florida Fire Captain Charged With Padding Living Expenses on Citizens Claim
Jun 12 2024 // A retired south Florida fire captain has been arrested for insurance fraud, charged with vastly overstating the number of nights he was forced to stay in a resort hotel while his home was under repair. Florida’s...
Contractors Can’t Advertise ‘Insurance Negotiating’ Skills, Texas Supreme Court Says
Jun 11 2024 // A contractor cannot be the public adjuster on a claim and cannot advertise itself as an insurance claims negotiator if it does not hold an adjusters’ license, the Texas Supreme Court decided in a case that could give...
Catastrophe Bond Sales Soar as Markets Brace for Unusually Active Hurricane Season
Jun 10 2024 // Issuance of catastrophe bonds just hit a record high, as the market braces for a rough hurricane season with the potential to do substantial damage. Sales of so-called cat bonds are 38% higher this year through May than...
Disney to Invest $17B in Florida Parks Now That Fight with DeSantis Has Cooled
Jun 10 2024 // ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Months after Disney and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointees agreed to end a protracted legal fight, the two sides are set to approve an agreement that could result in the company investing up to $17...
Liability Reinsurance Crisis Could Be Looming, TransRe CEO Says
Jun 7 2024 // “There could be a liability crisis in reinsurance in a couple of years,” a reinsurance executive predicted this week. Ken Brandt, chair, president and chief executive officer of TransRe, offered the assessment...
Brazilian Butt Lift Clinics Must Now Carry Liability Insurance Under New Florida Law
Jun 6 2024 // Practitioners of Brazilian butt lift surgery, repeatedly in the news after infections and at least two patient deaths in south Florida, must now obtain medical malpractice liability insurance, thanks to a bill signed into...
Surgeons Can’t Slip Out of GEICO’s Latest RICO Fraud Lawsuit in NC, Judge Says
Jun 6 2024 // GEICO Insurance companies have continued their campaign against alleged auto insurance fraud actors, including some well-known physicians and medical clinics. And a federal judge ruled this week that two of those...
Florida OIR Posts 2024 Catastrophe Claims Reporting Form
Jun 4 2024 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has posted a new reporting form for catastrophe claims data for the 2024 hurricane season. Florida law requires property insurers to report a wide range of information after...
Tallahassee Mayor Says Tornado Costs Now Top $50 Million
Jun 4 2024 // TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Recovery from a May 10 tornado outbreak has cost Florida’s capital city $50 million so far, Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey said Friday. Florida officials have requested that the Federal...
Louisiana Law That Limits Filming of Police Violates First Amendment, Attorneys Say
Jun 3 2024 // A new Louisiana law that makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of a police officer under certain circumstances is an affront to the movement for racial justice and violates the First Amendment, civil...
Universal Says it Completed Reinsurance Program With Only a Slight Bump in Cost
Jun 3 2024 // Universal Insurance Holdings, the publicly traded parent of one of Florida’s largest property insurers, said it has completed its reinsurance program for its two subsidiaries ahead of the June 1 renewal. “For...
Business Moves
Jun 3 2024 // National Neptune Flood, Charles River Data Private flood insurer Neptune Flood reported it acquired Charles River Data, a Boston-based data science consulting group. Charles River Data was founded by data scientists from...
A New Approach: Florida Agents’ Association Makes Big Investment in Startup Insurer
Jun 3 2024 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents, the largest agent group in the state, this spring took the unprecedented step of investing in a startup insurance carrier, a move designed to help keep agents in the game and...
Florida Regulators’ Move to Oust Insurer Execs May Not Hold up in Court
Jun 3 2024 // Current and former leaders with Florida property insurers have had some strong reactions to state regulators’ recent efforts to oust company executives who previously helmed now-insolvent carriers. Some have called...
Greater Chance of Major Hurricane on the East Coast This Year, But Less in Gulf, Scientist Says
Jun 3 2024 // Multiple computer models from forecasting organizations across the globe have predicted a very active hurricane season starting next month, spelling trouble for much of the coastal Southeastern tates. The models are...
‘Cautiously Optimistic’ on Florida: Defense Costs Down, but Reinsurance Still a Drag
May 31 2024 // Analysts with the AM Best financial rating firm and other stakeholders are cautiously optimistic about the resurrection of the Florida property insurance market, 18 months after state lawmakers approved monumental...
32.7M Homes at Risk of Hurricane Damage, CoreLogic Report Shows
May 30 2024 // More than 32.7 million residential properties from Texas to Maine are at risk of moderate or severe damage sustained from hurricane-force winds, a new report shows. The large number of at-risk homes in CoreLogic’s...
Kentucky, Alabama Towns Dealing with Tornado Damage, Florida Feeling Record Heat
May 29 2024 // The latest community left with shattered homes and no power was the tiny Kentucky town of Charleston, which took a direct hit Sunday night from a tornado that the governor said appeared to be on the ground for 40 miles (64...
Four More Charged in Staged Auto Accident Scheme in Miami
May 29 2024 // Florida authorities have nailed another alleged accident-staging group, one that collected more than $50,000 in personal injury protection benefits from auto insurance companies. Bryan Carlos Hernandez, Rusland Rivero...
