Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Sinkhole Tragedy: One Year Later
Feb 28 2014 // Chuck Holloway didn’t sleep well for a week after a sinkhole swallowed his neighbor Jeffrey Bush in Seffner last year. “And neither did anyone else around here,” he said from his front patio...
Mercury Insurance Cuts Florida Auto Rates 10%
Feb 25 2014 // Some Florida drivers could see their premiums reduced after one automobile insurer announced it would cut rates by an average of 10 percent. Mercury Insurance Co. officials said the new rates would take effect immediately...
Red-Light Cameras: Safety Measure or Money Grab?
Feb 25 2014 // The shutters clicked, the grainy photos were sent to the red-light violators and St. Louis raised $4.1 million last year. Now the vehicular version of “Candid Camera” may be ending, as it has in other U.S towns...
Business Moves
Feb 24 2014 // Kemper Corp. Kemper Corp. is realigning its property/casualty business. This realignment will result in one property/casualty segment for financial reporting purposes, beginning with the first quarter 2014. The new Kemper...
22 Charged in Florida Staged Flood, Fire Fraud Ring
Feb 24 2014 // A major fraud ring that staged fires and floods at South Florida homes to collect millions of dollars in claims from insurance companies has been broken up with charges against 22 people, authorities said. The alleged...
Private Flood Insurance Agency Now Selling in 15 States
Feb 24 2014 // A Florida agency selling private flood insurance said it is now selling the coverage in 15 states and making it available to commercial risks and apartment buildings. According to Evan Hecht, CEO of The Flood Insurance...
Jury Awards $975K to Estate of Florida Woman Who Died in Jail
Feb 19 2014 // A federal jury has awarded $975,000 to the estate of a Florida woman who died in a Pinellas County Jail cell. The jury made its decision in the case of Jennifer DeGraw, 50, who was taken into custody after her husband...
Florida Panel Passes Parasailing Safety, Insurance Bill
Feb 19 2014 // A Senate committee unanimously approved a bill that would provide safety guidelines for parasailing companies after hearing tearful testimonies from a 17-year-old who suffered a brain injury and broken bones in her spine...
Federal Appeals Court: U.S. Has Jurisdiction in Chinese Drywall Suits
Feb 13 2014 // U.S. courts have jurisdiction over claims that a Chinese drywall company’s defective product wrecked homes, and a company that failed to show up in court must pay $2.7 million for damage to seven Virginia couples, a...
Study Looks at Options to Depopulate Texas Coastal Wind Insurer
Feb 13 2014 // Loss exposure for Texas’ wind and hail insurer of last resort along the coast increased by around 319 percent between 2005 and 2012 – from $23.26 billion to $74.17 billion, and its policy count grew by...
Florida Trooper Case Raises Driver Data Privacy Issues
Feb 12 2014 // Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Donna Jane Watts was on routine patrol early one morning when a Miami police car whizzed past at speeds that would eventually top 120 mph. Even with her blue lights flashing and siren...
Cities Lobby for Halt to Flood Insurance Increases; House Vote Blocked
Feb 12 2014 // Yesterday the National League of Cities joined the Florida League of Cities, Florida Association of Counties and others in meetings with White House officials and members of Congress to urge a halt to flood insurance...
Florida’s Citizens Touts Policy Count Drop Below 1 Million
Feb 11 2014 // Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. reported that its policy count has dropped below one million for the first time since 2006. The state-backed insurer said that recent takeout efforts, legislative...
Private Flood Insurance Agency Now Selling in 15 States
Feb 10 2014 // A Florida agency selling private flood insurance said it is now selling the coverage in 15 states and making it available to commercial risks and apartment buildings. According to Evan Hecht, CEO of The Flood Insurance...
People – Southeast
Feb 10 2014 // SIAA (Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance) has named Steve Tombarelli to the newly-created position of national director of Business Insurance Advantage. “We recognize that small commercial lines are becoming the new...
22 Charged in Florida Staged Flood, Fire Fraud Ring
Feb 6 2014 // A major fraud ring that staged fires and floods at South Florida homes to collect millions of dollars in claims from insurance companies has been broken up with charges against 22 people, authorities said Tuesday. The...
Florida Home Insurer Universal P&C to Enter Indiana, Minnesota, Delaware
Feb 4 2014 // Florida-based Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co. (UPCIC) has applied to expand into Indiana, Minnesota and Delaware. UPCIC is one of the leading writers of homeowners insurance in Florida and a fully licensed...
Florida’s ‘Operation Leaky Pipes’ Leads to 12 Insurance Fraud Arrests
Feb 4 2014 // Florida CFO Jeff Atwater said an ongoing insurance fraud investigation known as “Operation Leaky Pipes” has led to the arrests of 12 Miami residents. He said the investigation uncovered a scheme between a...
In Florida, Neighbor’s Backyard Could Be a Shooting Range
Feb 4 2014 // Near the National Key Deer Refuge in Florida’s Lower Keys, on a sleepy street called Mango Lane, retired sheriff’s deputy Huey Gordon checked the waterway behind neighbor Doug Varrieur’s home for boat...
Florida ‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Gets 350-Year Sentence
Feb 3 2014 // A South Florida doctor could get a maximum 350-year prison sentence for his conviction in an illegal prescription drug pill mill case. A Broward County jury last week found 54-year-old Dr. Thomas Rodenberg guilty of 14...
