Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Commissioner McCarty Gives FEMA Deadline for NFIP Rate Data
Oct 19 2015 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has followed through on his promise to State Senator Jeff Brandes to investigate the National Flood Insurance Program’s rating practices of Floridians. In an Oct. 2 letter...
Citizens’ CEO Updates Board on Water Loss Issue, Depopulation Program
Oct 19 2015 // Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s top executive warned the company’s Board of Governors Sept. 30 that water loss claims will continue to hamper efforts to reduce rates for many Florida...
Florida Chiropractor Accused of $1.5M Insurance Fraud Scam
Oct 18 2015 // Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced the arrest of Broward County, Florida Chiropractor Eric Wiegandt, 41, on multiple felony fraud charges related to a $1.5 million insurance fraud scheme. A joint state and...
Next Class of Veterans Begins Insurance Career Training at Florida-Based DVIC
Oct 18 2015 // Disabled Veterans Insurance Careers (DVIC) has launched its next class of disabled veteran trainees. The veterans will spend the next six months training and learning the many facets of the insurance industry in order to...
Family of Man on Sunken Freighter Files $100M Lawsuit in Florida
Oct 16 2015 // The family of a sailor aboard the cargo ship that sunk in roiling seas whipped up by Hurricane Joaquin filed a $100 million lawsuit Wednesday against the vessel’s owner and captain. Willie Gary, a Jacksonville,...
Summer Flood Repairs in Florida’s Pasco County Total More Than $100M
Oct 16 2015 // Pasco County, Florida officials have learned that flooding this past summer could end up costing the county more than $107 million in repairs. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the county’s Public Works Manager DiAnna...
Chris Cox Appointed President of Old Dominion Insurance Co.
Oct 16 2015 // The Main Street America Group, a super-regional property/casualty mutual insurance holding company, has appointed Chris Cox to president of Old Dominion Insurance Co., its primary writing company and brand throughout...
Florida Woman Tells Social Media Followers ‘I’m So Drunk’ Before DUI Arrest
Oct 15 2015 // “I’m so drunk,” a Florida driver repeatedly tells followers on the social media app Periscope, staring at her cellphone’s camera, mounted on the dashboard, before she is arrested and charged with...
Surplus Lines Insurance Sees Moderate Growth Thus Far in 2015
Oct 13 2015 // Collectively, the 14 U.S. surplus lines stamping offices have reported moderate growth in surplus line premiums during the first half of 2015. Approximately 60 percent of all surplus lines insurance is processed by...
Florida Approves the Removal of Up To 142,500 Policies from Citizens
Oct 12 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has approved the removal of up to 140,000 personal residential policies and 2,500 commercial residential polices from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. by the following four...
Florida Resident Files $5M Suit Against Volkswagen
Oct 8 2015 // A Fort Myers law firm has filed suit against Volkswagen in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida and seeks more than $5 million in damages, accusing the carmaker of false advertising and other...
Florida Supreme Court Requests Rule Change for Lawyer Referrals
Oct 8 2015 // The Florida Supreme Court is asking the Florida Bar to prepare a rule that would ban lawyers from using for-profit client referral services that aren’t owned by lawyers. The court issued its order Sept. 24, citing...
Florida Man Arrested for Stealing $100K in Insurance Claims from Sandy Victim
Oct 7 2015 // The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud announced the arrest of Naples, Fla., man Daniel T. Phelps, 56, for allegedly stealing two insurance claim payments totaling more than $96,000 from an elderly New Jersey business...
Florida Massage Therapist Arrested for PIP Fraud Against Multiple Insurers
Oct 7 2015 // The Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) announced the arrest of John Alexander Fraga (aka Juan Alejandro Fraga) for his involvement in the alleged billing of more than $40,000 to...
Agent Develops Coverage to Fill Gaps in Traditional Wind Insurance
Oct 6 2015 // Between deductibles, excluded losses, and difficulty accessing business interruption coverage, a business suffering hurricane losses can take a big out-of-pocket economic hit even if it has insurance. There is a disconnect...
Boiler Room Explosion at Florida Penthouse Injures 6
Oct 6 2015 // A penthouse boiler room exploded because of a gas leak Friday at a 33-story high-rise near Miami, injuring at least six people, fire officials said. The explosion happened around noon on the top floor of the Château Beach...
Florida Commissioner McCarty Asks FEMA for NFIP Rate Data by Dec. 15
Oct 5 2015 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin M. McCarty has followed through on his promise to State Senator Jeff Brandes to investigate the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) rating practices of Florida insureds. In...
Report: Florida Cities Most Vulnerable to Storm Surge
Oct 5 2015 // Four of the top eight cities most vulnerable to a major storm surge are located in Florida, according to a new report released by Karen Clark & Company (KCC). The 2015 “Most Vulnerable U.S. Cities to Storm Surge...
Florida Establishes Citizens’ Commercial Lines Rates for 2016
Oct 5 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) issued an order on September 17 establishing the 2016 commercial lines rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. The overall estimated statewide average rate changes are...
Confie Acquires Alabama, New York, Florida Brokers
Oct 2 2015 // National personal lines insurance broker Confie said it has acquired four insurance brokers with locations in Alabama, western New York and Florida. Confie acquired TS Insurance Group which specializes in non-standard auto...
