Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Supreme Court: UCF Athletic Association Entitled to Sovereign Immunity
Jun 2 2015 // A private corporation that runs the University of Central Florida’s athletic program won’t have to pay $10 million to the family of a football player who died during practice, the Florida Supreme Court ruled...
Effective Wildfire Prevention Hampered by Liability, Weather, Development
Jun 1 2015 // Forest managers would prefer to use prescribed burns every few years to help prevent costly wildfires and rebuild unhealthy ecosystems, but hurdles like staffing, budget, liability and new development hinder them, a new...
Florida Insurance Rates Still High Despite Several Storm-Free Seasons
Jun 1 2015 // Living in a (semi)-tropical paradise has a price – and apparently, not even going nine years without a major hurricane strike will change that. While Florida’s property insurance market has stabilized somewhat...
Florida Will Not Appeal Decision Favoring Deloitte in Poe Financial Collapse
Jun 1 2015 // The Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) will not appeal the recent jury decision that found Deloitte & Touche not liable in the insolvency of Tampa-based Poe Financial Group following the unprecedented...
Report: Florida Coastal Communities Rebuilt, Ready to Face Future Storms
May 29 2015 // Since eight hurricanes whipped through Florida during back-to-back seasons a decade ago, causing $33 billion in insurance claims, the state’s coastal communities have added an additional 1.5 million people and almost...
Former Florida Highway Patrol Officer Pleads Guilty to Selling Accident Reports
May 28 2015 // A former Florida Highway Patrol trooper could get prison time after pleading guilty to an extortion charge for accepting bribes for selling confidential accident reports. The ex-trooper, Kirk Chambers, pleaded guilty last...
Cement Company Negligence Charge Dismissed in Florida Teen Suicide Suit
May 27 2015 // A judge in Florida has tossed a portion of a lawsuit that alleged negligence against a cement company in the death of a 12-year-old central Florida girl who committed suicide after being bullied. Rebecca Sedwick jumped to...
Florida ‘House of Horrors’ Dentist Surrenders License
May 26 2015 // A Florida children’s dentist accused of running a “house of horrors” that included performing surgical procedures without anesthetic has agreed to stop practicing dentistry. Dr. Howard Schneider of...
Florida Supreme Court Rules Medical Malpractice Caps Aren’t Retroactive
May 26 2015 // A 2003 law capping medical malpractice lawsuit awards at $500,000 can’t be applied retroactively. That’s what the Supreme Court ruled in a Miami-Dade County case in which a woman suffered permanent damage to...
Florida Officials Find 103 Card Skimmers at Gas Stations Statewide
May 22 2015 // Officials with Florida’s Department of Agriculture say 103 skimmer devices that are used for identity theft have been discovered at more than 7,500 gas stations it inspected. The agency announced its findings this...
30 More Arrested in Second Wave of Massive Florida Insurance Fraud Scheme
May 21 2015 // Florida CFO and State Fire Marshal Jeff Atwater, alongside Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, has made more than 30 arrests during the second wave of a collaborative state and local operation known as...
Florida-Based Orchid Underwriters Appoints Butler As CFO
May 20 2015 // Orchid Underwriters Insurance Agency, LLC, a specialty underwriter of property insurance focusing on coastal properties, has named Lynda Butler as chief financial officer. She will also become a member of the Executive...
Florida Bans Price Optimization; Insurers Question Definition
May 19 2015 // A memorandum released last week by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty warning insurers in the state not to use price optimization in rating has gotten cheers from a consumer advocate group and jeers from an...
Florida City Bans Beach Drinking During Spring Break
May 19 2015 // Panama City Beach leaders have voted to ban beach drinking during the month of March as part of larger crackdown on spring break partying. The city council approved the ban on beach drinking May 12 during a special meeting...
New Study Shows How Florida Citizens Subsidizes the Rich
May 18 2015 // The policy subsidies offered by Florida’s state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. flow disproportionately to the wealthy and, in concert with similarly regressive subsidies from the National Flood Insurance...
Outlook for Dallas-Based MGA Insurance Revised to Positive
May 15 2015 // A.M. Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the issuer credit rating (ICR) of MGA Insurance Co. Inc. (MGA) in Dallas and affirmed its ICR of “bbb.” Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the...
Nebraska Insurance Agency Loses Round But Fight Continues
May 15 2015 // A judge has ordered a defunct Nebraska insurance firm to pay Florida regulators at least $2.2 million, but this week’s ruling isn’t likely to settle the case that began in 1998. The Nebraska Supreme Court has...
Florida’s Hurricane Insurance Fund Replenished and Ready After 9 Quiet Years
May 15 2015 // Florida’s nine-year streak of avoiding hurricanes is helping the state reach a historic milestone: for the first time ever, the state-created fund designed to help pay out claims after storms has enough cash and...
Florida Approves Removal of 30,000 Policies from Citizens
May 15 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) has approved the removal of up to 30,000 personal residential policies and 50 commercial residential polices from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) by...
Eight Florida Residents Arrested for Involvement in PIP Fraud Scam
May 14 2015 // Eight Broward County, Fla., residents have been arrested for PIP (personal injury protection) fraud after an investigation by the Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud revealed the individuals...
