Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Judge Upholds Injunction Against Portions of State’s PIP Law
Apr 24 2013 // A Florida judge has upheld his temporary injunction partially blocking portions of the state’s automobile no-fault insurance law on the basis it infringes on drivers’ access to the courts. As a result,...
Workers’ Comp Insurer MEMIC Appoints Ancillary Services Director in Florida
Apr 23 2013 // The MEMIC Group, a workers’ compensation insurer headquartered in Maine, recently promoted Jared Payton to national director of ancillary services. He is based in MEMIC’s recently opened Tampa, Fla.,...
Floridians Encouraged to Buy Flood Insurance Before Hurricane Season Gets Underway
Apr 23 2013 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is encouraging Floridians to make preparations now for the upcoming 2013 hurricane season by purchasing flood insurance. Flood insurance is administered through the National...
Florida Compounding Pharmacy Recalls Sterile Drugs
Apr 23 2013 // A Florida-based compounding pharmacy is voluntarily recalling all lots of its sterile non-expired drug products sold nationwide over concerns the products are not sterile and may contain bacteria. Food and Drug...
Florida Becomes 4th State to Sue BP Over Oil Spill
Apr 22 2013 // The state of Florida filed a lawsuit last Saturday against British oil company BP and cement contractor Halliburton over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, becoming the fourth U.S. state to seek damages for the 2010...
Florida’s Latest PIP Conundrum: Medical Fees
Apr 22 2013 // Florida’s high court is poised to decide how much money insurers owe some medical providers in cases where an auto policy does not specifically state that the fees will be based on a fee schedule approved by state...
Florida Alleges Fraud by Allianz in Case of Failed Insurer
Apr 22 2013 // Florida regulators are alleging that insurer Allianz and its companies contributed to the collapse of a Florida domestic property insurer by taking out more than $20 million in assets and rendering it unable to meet its...
Florida Man Guilty of $1.2M BP Oil Spill Claims Fraud
Apr 19 2013 // A South Florida man is facing a potentially lengthy prison sentence after a jury convicted him of attempting to defraud the BP oil spill claims fund out of $1.2 million. A jury on Tuesday convicted 32-year-old Jean Mari...
Florida Hurricane Cat Fund Reform in Jeopardy
Apr 19 2013 // Plans to reform Florida’s state-backed reinsurance facility with proponents scaling back their proposals. The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund has been the subject of legislative reform efforts for several years as...
Florida Cat Fund Looks to Issue $2 Billion in Pre-Event Bonds
Apr 17 2013 // Florida’s state-run property reinsurance facility is preparing to issue $2 billion in revenue bonds to ensure it has enough money on hand to quickly pay insurers’ claims in the event of a major hurricane. The...
Florida Senate Passes Bill on Medical Malpractice Expert Witnesses
Apr 15 2013 // The Florida Senate is making it harder to pursue medical malpractice claims. The Senate last week voted 27-12 for the bill and sent it to the House. The legislation (SB 1792) requires that expert witnesses called against a...
Florida Workers’ Compensation Ruling Could Cost $65 Million, Says NCCI
Apr 11 2013 // A Florida court’s ruling that the state’s 104-week limit on injured workers’ temporary benefits is unconstitutional could increase costs by $65 million, says the workers’ compensation...
Calls for Repeal of Florida PIP Turn Silent; Next Step Uncertain
Apr 11 2013 // A Florida Senate bill aimed at eliminating the state’s no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) auto insurance was met with awkward silence in the committee hearing it Tuesday. Finally, the committee’s chair,...
2013 Hurricane Prediction: 72% Chance on East Coast; 48% for Florida
Apr 10 2013 // The Colorado State University team is predicting an above-average 2013 Atlantic basin hurricane season with 18 named storms and a 72 percent chance one will make landfall somewhere along the entire Eastern seaboard. Nine...
AssuredPartners Acquires Alan James Insurance in Florida
Apr 10 2013 // AssuredPartners of Florida has acquired substantially all of the assets of Alan James Insurance, a Ft. Lauderdale-based insurance broker specializing in insurance for the south Florida real estate market. The agency is led...
Pension Funds Looking for Higher Yields from Cat Bonds
Apr 9 2013 // Pension funds are turning to specialist bonds that bet on the likelihood of a natural disaster, in a search for yield and returns that are not correlated to the rest of the market. What was once considered an exotic...
Florida Justices Face Another PIP Conundrum: Medical Fees
Apr 8 2013 // Florida’s high court is poised to decide how much money insurers owe some medical providers in cases where an auto policy does not specifically state that the fees will be based on a fee schedule approved by state...
Best Affirms Baldwin & Lyons and Operating Subs Ratings; Outlook Stable
Apr 8 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of Protective Insurance Company (PIC) and its wholly owned subsidiary,...
Florida May Scrap No-Fault Auto Insurance Law
Apr 5 2013 // Frustrated by a recent court decision temporarily blocking part of Florida’s no-fault auto insurance law reformed last year, state lawmakers are considering scrapping the entire law. Current proposals would reinstate...
Florida Lawmakers Advance Parasailing Regulations with Insurance Mandate
Apr 5 2013 // A bill to ensure more safety for thrill seekers who soar above Florida’s coastlines while dangling from parachutes has cleared its initial hurdle, winning swift approval from a state Senate panel this week. The...
