Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fire Destroys Historic Florida Cigar Factory
Jul 7 2015 // A historic Tampa, Florida cigar factory has been destroyed in a fire. Authorities say the roof and floors of the Palmetto Beach Cigar Factor collapsed in the fire which broke out shortly after midnight July 5. The fire...
Florida Has Most Lightning Claims but Texas Has Highest Cost Per Claim
Jul 6 2015 // The number of insurance claims from lightning strikes in the United States continued its steady decline, as severe thunderstorm activity eased from near-record levels and dry weather prevailed throughout much of the...
Florida’s Citizens Approves Rate Increases Along Coast
Jul 6 2015 // Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s Board of Governors has approved a 2016 rate package that lowers rates for nearly half of Citizens’ personal lines policyholders while responding to increased water loss...
People – Southeast
Jul 6 2015 // MarketScout, the national electronic insurance exchange and specialty MGA headquartered in Dallas, has expanded its Private Client Solutions (PCS) division with several new hires in its Fort Lauderdale, Fla., office and...
6.6M Atlantic, Gulf Coast Homes at Risk of Storm Surge
Jul 6 2015 // More than 6.6 million homes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at risk of hurricane storm surge with a total reconstruction cost value estimated to be nearly $1.5 trillion, according to an annual report released by...
Business Moves
Jul 6 2015 // Patriot National, Brandywine Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Patriot National Inc. has acquired Brandywine Insurance Advisors, a specialty insurance brokerage focusing on the construction industry. Patriot National said the...
Plugging the Hole in the U.S. Flood Market: How Risk Modelers Can Help to De-Risk the NFIP
Jul 6 2015 // The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has long been the dominant player in the U.S. flood insurance market, providing subsidized flood insurance based on actuarially unsound rates for millions of property owners, in...
BP to Pay $18.7B Over 18 Years to Settle Spill Claims with 5 States, U.S.
Jul 2 2015 // BP Plc has agreed to a preliminary deal in which it will pay a record $18.7 billion to settle claims by five Gulf states and the U.S. government for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst oil spill in the...
Truck Driver in Deadly Tennessee Crash Cited in Florida Previous Day
Jul 2 2015 // Authorities say a truck driver who slammed into numerous stopped cars outside of Chattanooga, Tenn., last week, killing six, had been cited for careless driving in Florida the previous day. According to a Florida Highway...
Guy Carpenter Confirms Slowing of Pricing Declines in June Renewals
Jul 1 2015 // Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, has reported that “after two years of price decreases averaging 15 percent on U.S. property catastrophe placements, risk-adjusted pricing moderated at the most recent June...
National Hurricane Center, Florida University to Launch Hurricane Site in Spanish
Jul 1 2015 // The National Hurricane Center and Florida International University are launching a new Spanish-language website for hurricane preparation. The website will include information on hurricane science, residential mitigation...
Census Data Breaks Down Florida Metro Area Housing Traits
Jul 1 2015 // New data released by federal authorities show the housing characteristics of Florida’s four major metro areas – Jacksonville, South Florida, Orlando and Tampa. According to the report, Jacksonville residents are...
Florida PIP Clinic Owner Charged with More Than $100K in Insurance Fraud
Jun 30 2015 // The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud announced the arrest of Dr. Troy Godsey and Renata Berriel Deazevedo for their roles in a scheme to defraud multiple insurance companies of more than $100,000. Troy Godsey, a...
Jury Awards $24M to Widower of Woman Killed in Florida Hotel Cabana
Jun 29 2015 // A South Florida jury awarded $24 million to a man whose pregnant wife was killed when a drunken driver slammed into a cabana at a Fort Lauderdale hotel. The decision came more than three years after a car crossed a...
MarketScout Adds Staff to Private Client Division in Florida
Jun 26 2015 // MarketScout, the national electronic insurance exchange and specialty MGA headquartered in Dallas, has expanded its Private Client Solutions (PCS) E&S division with new hires in its Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,...
Citizens Approves Rate Changes for Florida Insureds
Jun 25 2015 // Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s Board of Governors has approved a 2016 rate package that lowers rates for nearly half of Citizens’ personal lines policyholders while responding to increased water loss...
Main Street America Appoints Root as VP in Florida Headquarters
Jun 24 2015 // Janet Root The Main Street America Group announced Janet Root has been appointed vice president of internal audit at the super-regional property/casualty insurance company. She replaces former internal audit vice president...
Florida High Court Removes Judge Over Misconduct in Progressive Injury Cases
Jun 24 2015 // A Broward County judge will be removed from the bench for misconduct committed eight years before she was elected to the post. The Florida Supreme Court ruled June 18 that Judge Laura Watson isn’t fit to serve as a...
4 Arrests Made in Florida Injury Clinic PIP Fraud
Jun 23 2015 // The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud has announced the arrest of Dr. Douglas Price, owner of the Florida Pain Trauma and Injury Clinic in Auburndale, Fla., and three others on charges related the operation of a complex...
Florida Man Attempts to Blow up Foreclosed Home with Bowling Ball
Jun 19 2015 // Authorities say a South Florida man who didn’t want a bank to sell his foreclosed home tried to blow it up using a bowling ball as an explosive. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports 21-year-old Tyler Butler was...
