Latest Florida Headlines

All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Report Card Ranks Vermont Best, Florida Worst States for Insurance

Jun 4 2012 // The R Street Institute published its first research project as an independent institution today, a report card of the insurance regulatory environments in each of the 50 states. The report card builds on a series of annual...

Raise Rates, Keep Florida Citizens

Jun 4 2012 // The Fort Meade Leader, a smallish Florida Newspaper, has a bang up editorial today about the Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corporation continuing woes. Despite signifiant improvements in its management, an despite...

Wildlife Groups Call for Florida Property Insurance Reforms

Jun 4 2012 // Taking the position that Florida’s heavily-subsidized property insurance market is leading to over-development along the state’s coastline, wildlife groups are calling on state lawmakers to make reforms even if...

Florida’s Citizens Hears Depopulation Ideas

Jun 4 2012 // When the question is how to shrink Florida’s state-backed home insurer, answers from insurance agents, insurer executives, state lawmakers, and others come down to increasing rates and shifting more policies to the...

Florida Agent Association Tops 2,000 Members

Jun 4 2012 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents, which represents thousands of independent agents statewide, has topped more than 2,000 agencies for the first time in its history. FAIA’s growth comes despite...

Florida Cat Fund’s Financial Condition Triggers A.M. Best Review of Insurer Ratings

Jun 4 2012 // Insurers writing homeowners coverage in Florida could see a revision in their financial ratings after one of the nation’s top rating companies announced it will reconsider them in light of the financial problems...

Loan Readiness

Jun 4 2012 // Floridians still remember Hurricane Andrew from 20 years ago and for good reason given the destruction the Category 5 wrought. Andrew still ranks as one of the most expensive natural disasters ever in the U.S. The state...

Why Workers’ Compensation Claimants Hire Attorneys

Jun 4 2012 // Workplace trust, fear of claim denial and injury severity are the main reasons for attorney representation in workers’ compensation claims, according to Bogdan Savych, a public policy analyst with the Workers...

Declarations – Southeast

Jun 4 2012 // Pad Thigh “I believe the technology has improved, the pads are far better than a decade ago, they allow better performance and are more protective. Every other level of football uses the pads.” —NFL...

People – Southeast

Jun 4 2012 // Sarasota, Fla.-headquartered property/casualty insurer FCCI Insurance Group (FCCI) recently expanded into Maryland and has hired Jeanine Ferritor as a senior marketing underwriter to develop FCCI’s independent agency...

Florida Hurricane Fund May Come Up Short If Big Storm Hits

Jun 4 2012 // Florida may not have enough money to pay off hurricane insurance claims if a big storm hits this year. An advisory panel recently concluded that the state may fall nearly $2 billion short of the total needed to cover all...

Florida City Doubles in Size Since Hurricane Andrew

May 30 2012 // The havoc wreaked by Hurricane Andrew in Homestead, Florida two decades ago still serves as a warning about the devastation even a slow tropical storm season can bring. Homestead was ground zero when Andrew plowed ashore...

Tropical Depression Beryl Douses Florida, Georgia with Heavy Rains

May 29 2012 // Tropical Depression Beryl is located over southern Georgia bringing heavy rain to the southeast of the state and to northern Florida, according to Risk Management Solutions (RMS). Total accumulations are expected to reach...

Court Nixes Florida Award for Injury Before Policy Purchase

May 29 2012 // A Florida appellate court has reversed a $6.25 million judgment against an insurance company because it was for an injury that occurred four days before coverage was obtained. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court...

Florida Readies Storm Plan for Republican Convention

May 24 2012 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott will have the final say whether to cancel the Republican National Convention in the event of a hurricane. The convention where Mitt Romney is expected to be formally nominated as the Republican...

Weather Channel’s Knabb Named Chief of National Hurricane Center

May 21 2012 // Richard Knabb, the tropical weather expert at The Weather Channel, will be the next chief of the U.S. government’s hurricane forecasting hub in Florida, federal officials said Friday. The promotion to director of the...

Florida Revises Workers’ Comp Certificates, Audit Laws

May 21 2012 // Florida’s governor has signed legislation streamlining the workers’ compensation certificate process, eliminating mandatory premium audits, and discontinuing refunds for insurers with excess profits. Gov. Rick...

Florida’s Citizens Defends Plan to Consider Higher Rates on New Business

May 18 2012 // Facing protests from consumers and state officials, Florida’s state-run homeowners insurer has found itself defending a proposal to increase rates for new customers above a legislative cap placed on current...

OSHA Probes Florida Postal Worker’s Mysterious Illness

May 18 2012 // The federal agency that monitors worker safety has opened an investigation into the illness of a U.S. postal worker who became sick after coming into contact with a mysterious package from Yemen. A spokesman for the...

Forecasters Examine Hurricane Andrew’s Legacy

May 18 2012 // The ability to predict how bad a storm will be has eluded forecasters since Hurricane Andrew made a catastrophic landfall in South Florida two decades ago and it will remain a challenge for the next chief at the National...