Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Cunningham to Lead Florida-Based SLB Insurance’s New Environmental Division
Oct 5 2016 // SLB Insurance Group of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has hired Jeffrey Cunningham to lead its new Environmental Insurance division. Cunningham started the new Environmental division for SLB’s Wholesale Insurance Brokerage...
Florida Approves Increases for Citizens Commercial Property Rates
Oct 4 2016 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has issued an order establishing the 2017 commercial property rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Rates are going up for all accounts except the Commercial...
Florida Watching Hurricane Matthew, Governor Urges Residents to Prepare
Oct 3 2016 // The GOES East satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016 at 2:45 p.m. EDT, shows Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean Sea about 190 miles northeast of...
Florida Regulators Approve Rate Increase for Citizens Policyholders
Oct 3 2016 // Rates are going up for many Florida homeowners. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has approved a 6.4 percent overall rate increase for 2017 for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. homeowners’ multiperil...
Hurricane Hermine Declared Major Disaster; Federal Funds Available to Florida
Sep 30 2016 // President Barack Obama has officially declared a major disaster for areas in Florida affected by Hurricane Hermine. A news release says Obama signed the disaster declaration Wednesday. The president’s action makes...
Florida Governor Issues Emergency Rule on Public Notice of Pollution Events
Sep 29 2016 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott has issued an emergency rule requiring public notification of pollution events within 24 hours, a move that comes after it took weeks to notify local residents about a fertilizer plant that leaked...
Florida Approves 14.5% Workers’ Comp Rate Hike in Response to Court Rulings
Sep 27 2016 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has given contingent approval for an overall statewide workers’ compensation rate increase of 14.5 percent to take effect Dec. 1, 2016. The rate increase is in...
Stanford Opens Newest Florida Brightway Office in Jacksonville
Sep 27 2016 // Brightway Insurance has expanded its network of insurance retail locations in Jacksonville, Fla., with the addition of insurance agent and new Brightway Agency Owner Anne Stanford, who opened the company’s newest...
Florida Residents Near Sinkhole Filled with Fertilizer File Federal Lawsuit
Sep 26 2016 // A federal lawsuit was filed late Thursday by three central Florida residents who live near a fertilizer plant where more than 200 million gallons of contaminated wastewater leaked into one of the state’s main...
Florida Gov Orders Investigation into St. Petersburg Sewage Spill
Sep 23 2016 // Gov. Rick Scott has ordered the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to investigate a sewage spill in St. Petersburg. Heavy rain during Hurricane Hermine overloaded the city’s sewer systems, sending...
Florida Residents Want Water Tested After Leak of 200M Gallons of Fertilizer
Sep 22 2016 // Dozens of residents who live near a Florida fertilizer plant that has leaked more than 200 million gallons of contaminated water into a drinking water aquifer have asked for their water wells to be tested for...
Appalachian Underwriters Adds Reilly as Property Broker in Florida Office
Sep 22 2016 // Appalachian Underwriters, Inc. has added a new property broker, Aaron Reilly, to the Sarasota, Fla., office. Reilly will be developing new business opportunities throughout the country in various property and casualty...
One Area of Miami Declared Zika-Free While Zika Zone in Miami Beach Expanded
Sep 21 2016 // Authorities declared a victory Monday in stemming further infections of Zika in Miami’s Wynwood arts district, but continued to caution pregnant women about traveling to the city and surrounding areas out of concerns...
Florida Awaiting Final Workers’ Comp Rate Decision
Sep 20 2016 // The rate impact of recent Florida Supreme Court rulings on the state’s workers’ compensation system is currently in the hands of regulators, as the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) decides on the National...
Florida-Based Brightway Insurance Selects Heidelberg as Communications Manager
Sep 20 2016 // Brightway Insurance has named Courtney Heidelberg as its public relations and communications manager. Heidelberg brings 16 years of experience as a professional communicator to Brightway, where she leads communications...
U.S. Lawsuit Against Samsung Claims Injuries from Galaxy 7 Explosion
Sep 19 2016 // Samsung Electronics Co. was sued on Friday by a Florida man who said he suffered severe burns after his Galaxy Note 7 smartphone exploded in his front pants pocket. The lawsuit by Jonathan Strobel may be the first in the...
Florida Regulators Approve Rate Increase for Citizens Policyholders
Sep 19 2016 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved a 6.4 percent overall rate increase for 2017 for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. homeowners’ multiperil policyholders across the state. According to Citizens, the...
Florida’s First Hurricane in 11 Years ‘Could Have Been a Lot Worse’ for Industry
Sep 19 2016 // The 11-year hurricane drought in Florida is officially over. While preliminary damage estimates and claims are still trickling in from Hurricane Hermine, Florida’s first named hurricane since 2005, the consensus from...
People – Southeast
Sep 19 2016 // Tampa, Fla.-based Franklin Street has hired Nancy Sheinberg as vice president of Insurance Services. With 30 years of commercial insurance experience, Sheinberg is responsible for managing all hands-on operational features...
14 States Process $13.1B in Surplus Lines Premium in First Half 2016
Sep 19 2016 // Data from the 14 U.S. surplus lines service/stamping offices show they have processed almost $13.1 billion in insurance premium filings in the first half of 2016, according to the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas...