Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Citizens: $4.2M in Florida Customer Premiums Recovered in 2015
Feb 28 2016 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. reports that it recovered more than $4.2 million in customer premiums in 2015 by aggressively pursuing third parties responsible for losses and salvaging property involved in a claim, the...
Florida Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill Limiting Citizens’ Take-Out Letters
Feb 28 2016 // Florida legislators may try once again give additional protections to customers of Citizens Property Insurance. A Senate panel on Feb. 25 approved a bill that would put a limit on how many times a year a homeowner could be...
Florida Reports 3 Pregnant Women Test Positive for Zika
Feb 26 2016 // Health officials say three pregnant women have tested positive for the Zika virus in Florida. Secretary of Health Dr. John Armstrong announced the cases Wednesday in his daily Zika update. A news release says all three...
A.M. Best Upgrades Issuer Credit Rating of Florida-Based Seven Seas Insurance Co.
Feb 24 2016 // A.M. Best has upgraded the issuer credit rating (ICR) to “a+” from “a” and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) of Seven Seas Insurance Company, Inc. (Riviera Beach, Fla)....
$50M Suit Challenges Florida’s Suspension of Driver’s Licenses in DUI Cases
Feb 24 2016 // A federal lawsuit is challenging the way driver’s licenses are automatically taken away from drunken-driving suspects in Florida. The class-action lawsuit filed Feb. 17 in federal court in Orlando says the current...
Florida’s Citizens Rolls Out New Website for Agents, Insureds
Feb 23 2016 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has launched a new website for customers, agents and other stakeholders that, according to the company, offers a more comprehensive gateway into the state’s insurer of last...
USI Insurance Services Acquires Florida-Based Best Insurance
Feb 22 2016 // USI Insurance Services has acquired Best Insurance, located in Tamarac, Fla. Best Insurance offers a range of personal insurance products, including homeowners, automobile, motorcycle, boat and watercraft, to customers in...
Oklahoma Gun Range Sued for Refusing Muslim Man Service
Feb 19 2016 // A U.S. Army reservist from Tulsa asked to leave a gun range in eastern Oklahoma after identifying himself as a Muslim sued the owners Wednesday, the latest in a series of cases across the nation alleging anti-Islamic...
Unlicensed Georgia Agent Arrested for Stealing Premiums From Florida Seniors
Feb 19 2016 // The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF), which operates under the direction of Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, announced the arrest of William David Rodeffer III of Folkston, Ga. Rodeffer allegedly accepted...
Florida State Troopers Report 186 Deaths from Hit-and-Run Crashes in 2015
Feb 19 2016 // State troopers say 186 people died in hit-and-run crashes in Florida last year. According to statistics released Monday by the Florida Highway Patrol, more than half the fatalities last year were pedestrians. Officials say...
Ex-Freedom President Gets 1 Month in Prison for West Virginia Chemical Spill
Feb 18 2016 // An executive who appeared unsympathetic when he spoke to the public after a chemical spill sullied tap water for 300,000 people in West Virginia was sentenced to one month in federal prison Wednesday. Ex-Freedom Industries...
Tornadoes Batter Multiple Southeast States
Feb 18 2016 // Weather service experts are assessing damage from storms that caused problems in several Southeast states. At least six south Alabama counties suffered damage from storms on Monday. The Johnsonville Volunteer Fire...
Florida-Based Anchor Insurance Appoints Wortman as President, Pawlowski as COO
Feb 18 2016 // Anchor Insurance appointed John Wortman as its new president and Kevin Pawlowski as its chief operating officer, effective February 9, 2016. John Wortman Wortman most recently served on Florida’s Citizens Insurance...
Kentucky Commish Green Lights Aetna-Humana Acquisition, Florida Approves Deal
Feb 18 2016 // Louisville, Ky.-based Humana has been approved for takeover by Aetna by Kentucky regulators, according to a statement from the Kentucky Department of Insurance Commissioner Brian Maynard. The order approving the request...
FEMA Responds to Florida’s Flood Rate Request, Sort Of
Feb 17 2016 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has responded to Florida’s request to review the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) rates but it may not be as forthcoming and helpful as Florida officials had...
Florida Reaches 20 Reported Cases of Zika Virus
Feb 16 2016 // Health officials say 20 cases of the Zika virus have been reported in Florida. The Florida Department of Health announced the new total Friday afternoon. Seven cases were reported in Miami-Dade County, and three each were...
Takata Engineer Pleads 5th Amendment in Florida Air Bag Lawsuit
Feb 16 2016 // A Takata Corp. engineer involved in testing the company’s air bags invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination in declining to testify in a lawsuit brought by a woman left paralyzed in a 2014...
The Villages Insurance Expands Into Florida’s Lake County
Feb 16 2016 // The Villages Insurance has expanded into Lake County, Fla. The Villages Insurance Lake County Division will extend its offerings already available to the residents of The Villages community including the services of its...
Citizens Launches ‘Call Citizens First’ Campaign to Combat Florida Abuse
Feb 12 2016 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has launched a multi-faceted education campaign in an attempt to improve customer claims handling while taking steps to combat what it has called a disturbing increase of fraud and abuse...
P/C Retail, Wholesale Agency 2015 M&A Highlights by Region, State
Feb 10 2016 // When agency consultants at Reagan Consulting hosted more than 150 industry leaders at a workshop on agent/broker mergers and acquisitions (M&A) recently, the mood was upbeat, since brokers are enjoying their best...
