Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Approves Anthem Bid to Acquire Cigna’s Florida-Based Affiliates
Apr 18 2016 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has issued a Consent Order approving, with additional requirements, Anthem, Inc.’s application to acquire 100 percent of the issued and outstanding voting securities...
Florida-Based SUNZ Insurance Hires Whittle as General Counsel
Apr 17 2016 // SUNZ Insurance Co., based in Sarasota, Fla., has hired Russell S. Whittle as the company’s in-house general counsel. Whittle will be responsible for corporate governance as it relates to contracts, regulatory...
BKS-Partners in Florida Appoints Ingram to Commercial Risk Management Group
Apr 15 2016 // Florida-Based Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners (BKS-Partners), has appointed Amy Ingram as managing director of the Commercial Risk Management Group. She will be based in company’s Tampa office. Ingram joins...
Florida Announces Exit from Multi-State Surplus Lines Clearinghouse NIMA
Apr 15 2016 // The Florida Surplus Lines Office (FLSLO) has announced that Florida has made the decision to withdraw from the Nonadmitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement (NIMA), effective June 1, 2016. The decision marks the second state...
Personal Info of 1,000 Clients Stolen from Florida County Health Department
Apr 14 2016 // More than 1,000 clients from Florida’s Palm Beach County Health Department are believed to have been victims of a data breach. The department said in a news release Monday that the IRS and FBI contacted the agency in...
Florida-Based The Villages Insurance Adds Advisor to Mulberry Office
Apr 13 2016 // Florida-based The Villages Insurance has added Naomi Peeples to its Mulberry Grove location. Peeples, formerly located in the Agency’s Spanish Springs office, is a state certified personal lines advisor specializing...
Disaster Loans Available to Florida Businesses Affected by Tornadoes
Apr 13 2016 // The U.S. Small Business Administration is accepting applications for low-interest disaster loans for Florida Panhandle businesses and residents affected by tornadoes and storms in February. The loans are available for...
Sex Claim Filing Against Dershowitz a Mistake, Say Florida Lawyers; Defamation Claims Settled
Apr 12 2016 // Prominent U.S. lawyer Alan Dershowitz and two victims’ rights attorneys on Friday withdrew claims from a Florida court that they defamed each other during a legal fight about a woman who said she was trafficked for...
Florida Researchers Find 40% of Retired NFL Players Had Brain Injury
Apr 11 2016 // More than 40 percent of retired National Football League (NFL) players in a recent study had signs of traumatic brain injury, according to medical researchers from Florida. The findings were based on sensitive MRI scans...
Hoverboard Fire Leaves 3 Florida Apartments Damaged
Apr 11 2016 // Officials say three apartments sustained water damage from a sprinkler system after a hoverboard caught fire in an Orlando apartment building. The Orlando Sentinel reports that no one was seriously injured from the fire at...
The Nature Conservancy Looks to Address South Florida Climate, Catastrophe Risks
Apr 11 2016 // The Nature Conservancy has announced plans to work with catastrophe risk modeling firm RMS, as well as with the Global Disaster Preparedness Center and others, in an effort to address climate impacts in South Florida. The...
Florida Business Owner Arrested for $1.8M Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme
Apr 7 2016 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced the arrest of Maira Chirinos, owner of Pompano Beach construction company Tocoa Builders, Inc. Chirinos is alleged to have misrepresented information regarding Tocoa...
Florida Approves Removal of up to 19K Policies from Citizens
Apr 6 2016 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved the removal of up to 19,535 personal residential policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) for the June 21, 2016 take-out period. The...
Florida Approves Anthem Bid to Acquire Cigna’s Florida-based Affiliates
Apr 5 2016 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has issued a Consent Order (see below) approving, with additional requirements, Anthem, Inc.’s (Anthem) application to acquire 100 percent of the issued and...
Florida Arrests 10 in Undercover Workers’ Comp Sting
Apr 4 2016 // The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) announced 10 arrests following a multi-agency undercover workers’ compensation sting in Manatee County. According to a statement...
Florida Governor Shoots Down CFO’s Choice for Insurance Commissioner, Application Reopened
Apr 4 2016 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott made it known that his choice for the next Florida insurance commissioner would not be State Representative Bill Hager. “I won’t second it,” was Scott’s quick response to...
Florida’s Failure to Pass AOB Reforms Will Impact State Insurance Market
Apr 4 2016 // Following the 2016 Florida Legislative Session’s failure to pass essential assignment of benefit (AOB) reforms, the insurance industry and Citizens Property Insurance Corp. are working in tandem with the Florida...
Florida’s Citizens Pushes Policy Changes to Address Rising Water Loss Claims
Apr 4 2016 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s board of governors approved recommendations last month aimed at reducing the impact of what it calls skyrocketing water-loss claims that could reverse progress made in returning...
Arkansas Orders Florida Health Plan to Stop Selling in State
Apr 4 2016 // Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr issued a cease and desist order against Tampa, Fla.-based Health Plan Intermediaries Holdings LLC, dba Health Insurance Innovations (HII), alleging the company is using fraudulent and...
FEMA Denies Individual Assistance to Florida Tornado Victims
Apr 1 2016 // Some residents of the Florida Panhandle who sustained damage during two tornadoes that touched down in February will not receive individual assistance through FEMA. The News Journal reports that the Federal Emergency...
