Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Hurricane Fund Irma Payouts Could Exceed $5B
Oct 30 2017 // Hurricane Irma’s damaging rampage through Florida may require the state fund that provides backing to private insurers to pay up to $5.1 billion in claims. Anne Bert, chief operating officer for the Florida Hurricane...
Court Sides with Florida Nursing Homes in Emergency Generator Battle With Gov
Oct 30 2017 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s push to force nursing homes to add generators in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma could be blocked after a judge ruled there was no pressing danger that justifies the order. Scott called for...
Florida Reports More Than $9 Million Recovered for Insurance Consumers in Q3
Oct 27 2017 // Assistance provided to Floridians by from Florida’s insurance consumer helpline led to the recovery of nearly $9.3 million in the third quarter of 2017, according to a statement from Florida’s Chief Financial...
Florida’s Hurricane Irma Recovery Tab Tops $650M
Oct 27 2017 // The tab for Hurricane Irma keeps rising, and Florida legislators are warning that it could require some tough budget choices for next year. Gov. Rick Scott’s budget director told a Senate panel on Wednesday that the...
U.S. Cities Ranked Most Vulnerable to Coastal Floods Due to Climate Change
Oct 26 2017 // This week is the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, which developed in late October and moved over the East Coast starting on Oct. 29, 2012, causing more than $70 billion in damage and killing 280 people. To mark that...
Florida Insurance Agents Recount Hurricane Irma’s Personal Impact
Oct 26 2017 // It’s been just over a month since Hurricane Irma hit Florida, and it won’t be forgotten in Florida by anyone anytime soon, especially not by those in the insurance industry. The powerful storm made landfall...
Senate Joins House in Passing $36.5B Disaster Aid with Flood Insurance Funds
Oct 25 2017 // The Senate sent President Donald Trump a $36.5 billion hurricane relief bill Tuesday that gives Puerto Rico access to $4.9 billion in low-interest Treasury loans, amid concerns that recovery efforts from the recent...
Florida CFO Voices Concerns to FEMA Over Policy Management Vendor Transition
Oct 25 2017 // Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reconsider an upcoming vendor transition that he says could delay the processing of federal flood claims in...
Senate Expected to Pass $36.5B Disaster Aid Bill Including Flood Insurance Funds
Oct 24 2017 // The Senate is pushing ahead on a $36.5 billion hurricane relief package that would give Puerto Rico a much-needed infusion of cash. The measure also would replenish rapidly dwindling emergency disaster accounts and provide...
Unlicensed Contractor Arrested by Florida Disaster Fraud Strike Team
Oct 24 2017 // An unlicensed contractor from Fort Myers, Fla., has been arrested after he was found to be conducting subpar roof repairs and operating without insurance in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy...
Court Sides with Florida Gov in Battle Over Nursing Home Generators
Oct 23 2017 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott has won the first round in a legal tug-of-war over his mandate that nursing homes and assisted living facilities install generators. The 1st District Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected a legal...
Boyd Promoted to Florida Deputy Chief Financial Officer
Oct 20 2017 // The Department of Financial Services’ long-time Legislative Affairs Director Elizabeth Boyd has been promoted to Deputy Chief Financial Officer, according to a statement from Chief Financial Officer Jimmy...
BB&T-Oswald Trippe Adds 2 Commercial Lines Producers to Florida Team
Oct 20 2017 // BB&T- Oswald Trippe and Company has expanded its Southeast Florida team with the addition of two new associates as commercial lines producers to assist business clients in the greater Southeast Florida area. Kelly...
Florida Insurance Regulator Launches New Information Subscription Service
Oct 19 2017 // The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has introduced a new subscription service where consumers and other interested parties can sign up and receive their choice of communications from the Florida Office of Insurance...
BKS Partners of Florida Promotes Hammer to Partner
Oct 18 2017 // Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners (BKS-Partners) has promoted Matt Hammer to partner. He will lead the company’s Orlando office. As a partner, Hammer now has an ownership stake in the firm. His involvement in...
Florida Workers’ Comp Rate Hearing Scheduled for Oct. 18
Oct 17 2017 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) will conduct a public hearing to discuss the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s (NCCI) proposed overall statewide average workers’ compensation premium...
Irma Dealt Devastating Blow to Florida Citrus, Other Crops
Oct 16 2017 // Florida’s famous oranges are still falling from trees and rotting on the ground weeks after Hurricane Irma, and the state’s agriculture commissioner said Thursday there will be fewer Florida vegetables on...
House Approves $36.5B Disaster Aid with Puerto Rico, Wildfires, Flood Insurance Funds
Oct 12 2017 // The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved $36.5 billion in emergency relief for hurricane-hit Puerto Rico and other areas that have suffered recent disasters. In addition to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico,...
Former Florida Regulator Marcus Joins Holland & Knight’s Government Advocacy Team
Oct 12 2017 // Andrew Marcus, a former senior attorney and deputy director with Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), has joined Holland & Knight’s Tallahassee office as a member of the firm’s Florida...
BKS Partners in Florida Taps Nash as Private Risk Management Director
Oct 11 2017 // Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners (BKS-Partners) of Florida has added Kelly Nash as Private Risk Management managing director. As the Private Risk Management managing director and member of the BKS leadership team, Nash...