Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Supreme Court Upholds $2 Million Malpractice Verdict
Jun 29 2011 // The Florida Supreme Court has rejected a public hospital’s appeal of a $2 million malpractice verdict in the death of an infant. Justice Jorge Labarga wrote in the unanimous opinion that the Public Health Trust of...
Allstate Seeks Double-Digit Home Insurance Hikes in Florida
Jun 28 2011 // Two subsidiaries of Allstate Insurance Company Florida are seeking homeowners rate increases worth more than $90 million. Castle Key Indemnity Co. is seeking a 36 percent statewide average rate increase and Castle Key...
Esurance, Security First to Sell Homeowners Insurance in Florida
Jun 28 2011 // Esurance, the online car insurance company, said that it is partnering with Security First Insurance Co. as an underwriter to offer homeowners insurance in Florida. The move comes a little more than a month after Allstate...
Broker Citadel Opens Florida Office; Names Webb Southeast Director
Jun 24 2011 // Utah-based Citadel Insurance Services, a specialty program broker, has expanded its operations by opening a new regional office in Tampa, Florida. Citadel also announced the appointment of Gary N. Webb as director of its...
Florida Agents’ Leader Grady Cites Progress, Disappointments on Reform
Jun 23 2011 // For those in the industry, Florida’s recent legislative session was a long march as they tried to navigate through a process that initially promised much in the form of a new governor and strong pro-business...
Florida Counties Ban Fireworks Due to Wildfire Risk
Jun 23 2011 // Drought conditions and rampant wildfires have forced 29 Florida counties to ban open fires. And for 22 of those counties, the ban covers fireworks. The Florida Division of Forestry said that more than 440 active wildfires...
Florida, Mississippi, Hawaii Sign Surplus Lines Tax Agreement
Jun 20 2011 // Florida, Mississippi and Hawaii have entered into an agreement that will allow them to keep millions of dollars in taxes on surplus lines insurance policies. The agreement was the result of federal legislation — the...
Business Moves
Jun 20 2011 // Argus Fire & Casualty, Florida A Florida insurance company is on its way to closing its door as it informed agents it is going to start dropping policyholders when their policies are up for renewal. Argus Fire &...
Florida Reinsurance Renewals Reflect Unsettled Market
Jun 20 2011 // The Florida reinsurance renewals on June 1, 2011, experienced a wide range of outcomes as substantial catastrophe losses combined with two major catastrophe model revisions over the past 16 months led to a volatile renewal...
Actuaries Learn About Florida Property Insurance Challenges
Jun 20 2011 // Exposed to devastating hurricanes and a surprising influx of sinkholes, Florida may have the most challenging market for homeowners insurance in the nation, panelists told members of the Casualty Actuarial Society Spring...
Florida Approves RMS Hurricane Model
Jun 20 2011 // Florida’s residential property insurance market is bracing for even more volatility after the state’s modeling commission approved the use of the new Risk Management Services (RMS) catastrophe model. The...
Ratings Recap: United Auto/Argus, Doctors Co., GeoVera, Medical Mutual, MAG Mutual
Jun 17 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has placed under review with developing implications the financial strength rating of ‘C’ (Weak) and issuer credit ratings of “ccc” of Florida-based United Automobile Insurance Group...
Homeowners Insurance Assessments Haunt Florida’s Citizens, Officials
Jun 17 2011 // Two weeks into a new hurricane season, Florida officials are continuing to express their concerns over possible policyholder assessments by Citizens Property Insurance despite the relative financial strength of the...
Florida Drought Conditions Match Devastating 1998 Wildfire Season
Jun 17 2011 // Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said drought conditions are the same as in 1998 when wildfires devastated Florida. Putnam told Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Cabinet colleagues Thursday that drought covers 93 percent of...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau Caught in Pensions’ Currency Dispute
Jun 16 2011 // Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel has asked for a state investigation into whether banks may have manipulated foreign exchange rates charged to Ohio pension funds and the state’s injured worker insurance, potentially...
Ox Bonding Expands into Florida with Specialty Bonding Programs
Jun 16 2011 // Ox Bonding has expanded its specialty bonding programs into Florida. Ox Bonding’s affiliate insurance carrier, Upper Hudson National Insurance Co., has obtained approval from the Florida Office of Insurance...
Florida Alleges $2.7 Million Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Jun 14 2011 // Florida regulators have announced the arrest of a North Carolina man who allegedly collected more than $2.7 million in workers’ compensation premiums from a company by providing a fake policy. Florida Chief Financial...
Florida Homeowners to Share $55 Million in Chinese Drywall Settlement
Jun 14 2011 // Hundreds of Florida homeowners suffering with tainted Chinese drywall will share $55 million in a deal that also accuses a global drywall maker of lying about the product’s safety, according to court documents. The...
Arthur J. Gallagher Buys Florida’s Bushong Agency
Jun 13 2011 // Illinois-based global insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Bushong Insurance Associates Inc. in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2000, Bushong is a...
P/C Insurance Industry Wins, Loses in Scott’s First Session
Jun 10 2011 // It is axiomatic in Florida that when it comes to the legislature and insurance issues, the power brokers play for the last 72 hours. No matter how many committee meetings, no matter how many press conferences, no matter...
