Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Brown & Brown Acquires Assets of Florida-Based Bentrust Insurance Group
Nov 23 2015 // Brown & Brown of Florida, Inc., a subsidiary of Brown & Brown, Inc., has acquired certain assets of BenTrust, which includes Bentrust Financial, Inc. d/b/a Bentrust Insurance Group; Bentrust AIB, LLC, and Florida...
Florida to Put Fences Around Train Tracks After Fatal Crashes
Nov 22 2015 // The Florida Department of Transportation says it is planning to install fences around train tracks to avoid more fatal crashes. The Orlando Sentinel reports about $300,000 will go toward the fencing project that will...
States Graded ‘A’ to ‘F’ for Extreme Weather Preparedness
Nov 20 2015 // Many states across the country are unprepared to face the risks posed extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland flooding, coastal flooding and other extreme weather events, according to a new report card. Only a small...
Florida’s Citizens Expanding Clearinghouse to Condo Unit Policies
Nov 20 2015 // Starting in December, Citizens will expand its Property Insurance Clearinghouse to condominium unit owners, many of whom will now have immediate access to multiple private alternatives, the company said in its November...
Florida Man Gets 10 Years for West Virginia Pill Trafficking
Nov 20 2015 // A Florida man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for prescription pill trafficking and money laundering. Forty-six-year-old Lester W. Taylor of Daytona Beach, Fla., also was ordered in federal court in Charleston to...
Florida Couple Awarded $14.5M in Geico Uninsured Motorist Lawsuit
Nov 17 2015 // A former chiropractor and his wife have won a $14.5 million jury verdict in a lawsuit filed over a 2004 car crash that involved a motorist with no insurance. Attorney Crane Johnstone says a Miami-Dade jury sided with David...
BKS-Partners Adds Rays’ Outfielder Thompson to Insurance Team in Florida
Nov 17 2015 // Rich Thompson Florida-based Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners, an independent insurance brokerage firm, has appointed former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Rich Thompson as Commercial Risk and Employee Benefits advisor. Prior to...
The Price of Price Optimization in Insurance
Nov 17 2015 // The use of price optimization in insurance pricing is drawing increased attention and could be the next big industry battle. Or it could not be. Consumer groups and a growing contingent of states are labeling the practice...
Florida Supreme Court Cancels Medical Marijuana Amendment Hearing
Nov 16 2015 // The Florida Supreme Court has canceled a Dec. 8 hearing it had scheduled to consider a measure to legalize medical marijuana. The court announced the decision on Friday. The move comes a few days after Attorney General Pam...
Newest Brightway Agency Opens in Florida
Nov 16 2015 // The newest Brightway Insurance Agency, The Patrick James Agency, has opened in Miami Lakes, Fla., by agency owner, Patrick James. Brightway is a national property/casualty insurance retailer selling through a network of...
Best Agency to Work For – Southeast
Nov 16 2015 // Celedinas Insurance Group – Providing a Personal Touch From the Top Ray Celedinas may be the “man at the top” and namesake of the successful Celedinas Insurance Group, but employees of the Florida-based...
Florida AG Won’t Fight Medical Marijuana Measure
Nov 13 2015 // Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who loudly opposed a medical marijuana measure that appeared on the 2014 ballot, is staying on the sidelines this time around. Bondi said she is still opposes the effort to legalize...
Florida Issues Final Order for NCCI to Decrease Workers’ Comp Rates by 4.7%
Nov 13 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved an overall decrease of 4.7 percent in workers’ compensation insurance rates in Florida. Following the disapproval of its original rate filing request, the...
Florida Joins International Information Exchange Agreement
Nov 12 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has joined as the 55th jurisdiction internationally to be admitted as a signatory to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Multilateral Memorandum of...
NCCI Requests Review of Disapproved Florida Rate Filing
Nov 10 2015 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has submitted a request to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) to consider supplemental information in regards to its recent workers compensation rate...
Florida Issues Data Call for Water Claims, Assignment of Benefit Costs
Nov 10 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) ordered Florida’s largest property insurers on Oct. 23 to submit detailed information on water loss claims, mitigation services, litigation and assignment of benefits....
Florida Man Sues Trucking Company, Driver for $10M Over Crash That Killed Family
Nov 9 2015 // A northeast Florida man has filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against a semi-truck driver and others related to a wreck that killed his wife and three stepchildren. The SUV Dexter Culclager’s family had been...
Florida Approves First Citizens Take-Out Offers for 2016
Nov 9 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved the removal of up to 127,266 personal residential policies and 3,268 commercial residential/non-residential polices from Citizens Property Insurance...
A.M. Best Upgrades Issuer Credit Rating of Auto Club Insurance Company of Florida
Nov 5 2015 // A.M. Best has upgraded the issuer credit rating (ICR) to “bbb+” from “bbb” of Auto Club Insurance Company of Florida (ACICF) in Tampa. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed ACICF’s financial...
McCarty Orders NCCI to Further Lower Florida’s Workers’ Comp Rates
Nov 4 2015 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin M. McCarty has ordered the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) to lower workers’ compensation rates for Florida employers by 5.1 percent. The Order signed Nov. 3 is...
