Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Court Rejects Vicarious Liability
May 2 2011 // The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that motor vehicle leasing companies in the state cannot be held liable for accidents with their rented vehicles they did not cause. The state’s high court agreed with lower state...
People
May 2 2011 // Marsh & McLennan Companies announced several changes to its senior management team, including the appointment of Daniel S. Glaser, 50, to the newly created position of group president and chief operating officer,...
Separating Myths from Facts on Florida’s Citizens
May 2 2011 // Currently, Florida’s legislature is considering a proposal that will help restore health to Florida’s insurance market. As the proposal moves forward, it is worth separating the myths from the facts on the...
Florida Senate Passes Property Insurance Overhaul
Apr 29 2011 // The Florida Senate has passed a property insurance overhaul aimed at creating more competition in the private marketplace and also cut down on fraudulent sinkhole claims. The measure (SB 408) passed on a 25-12 vote after...
Florida Insurer Closing its Doors
Apr 29 2011 // 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 & Casualty, a subsidiary of the Miami...
Fire Risk Prompts Florida to Restrict Everglades Access
Apr 28 2011 // Florida wildlife officials are imposing restrictions on use of some Everglades recreation areas due to increased risk of fire. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided Tuesday to prohibit motor vehicles,...
Major Florida PIP Reform Effort Dies in Committee
Apr 27 2011 // The industry’s push for comprehensive reforms to Florida’s no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) insurance law came to an abrupt end in Florida after a House committee by a single vote margin rejected a...
Florida’s Lykes Insurance Appoints 3 Risk Consultants
Apr 27 2011 // A Florida commercial insurance agency, Lykes Insurance, has named three new risk consultants. Josh Helmut began his career in 2006 at Risk Services in Sarasota as a marketing representative. Most recently, he worked as a...
Scott Joins Florida’s Corporate Insurance Advisors
Apr 26 2011 // Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based insurance brokerage firm Corporate Insurance Advisors (CIA) has added Alex Scott to its team of producers as it pursues expansion in south Florida. Scott will focus on middle market...
CEO of Florida’s Homeowners Choice Resigns for Personal Reasons
Apr 25 2011 // Homeowners Choice Inc., a Clearwater, Florida-based provider of homeowners’ insurance, reported that Francis X. McCahill III has resigned from his position of president and chief executive officer and director of the...
Florida Agents Group Names Ray Communications Director
Apr 22 2011 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents announced Susan Ray has joined the association as director of communications. Ray brings nearly two decades of communications experience. She previously served as director of...
Florida Supreme Court Rejects Vicarious Liability for Car Rental Firms
Apr 21 2011 // The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that motor vehicle leasing companies in the state cannot be held liable for accidents with their rented vehicles they did not cause. The state’s high court agreed with lower state...
Florida Jury Hits Insolvent Insurer’s Owners with $76 Million Verdict
Apr 21 2011 // The former owners of Aries Insurance Co. are on the hook for millions after a Miami-Dade District Court found them guilty of diverting funds for personal use. Florida CFO Jeff Atwater said that a Miami-Dade Circuit Court...
One Year After BP Oil Spill, Optimism on Gulf Coast
Apr 21 2011 // A year after the worst U.S. offshore oil spill swamped the Gulf coast with petroleum and misery, officials Wednesday declared the hard-hit region reborn. It is still too early to know the long-term damage to the...
Florida Journalist Wins Pulitzer for Property Insurance Report
Apr 20 2011 // In the thick of her two-year investigation into Florida’s insurance industry, Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporter Paige St. John would wake up in the middle of the night, shaking and sweating, fearful that she’d...
Opinion: Separating Myths from Facts on Florida’s Citizens Insurance
Apr 19 2011 // Currently, Florida’s legislature is considering a proposal that will help restore health to Florida’s insurance market. As the proposal moves forward, it is worth separating the myths from the facts on the...
Business Moves
Apr 18 2011 // Ascension, Walter L. Clark Missouri-based Ascension Insurance Inc. acquired Walter L. Clark & Associates Inc., a California-based agency that specializes in agribusiness. Walter Clark, founded in 1959, has offices in...
Allstate Seeks to Open 50 New Agencies in Florida
Apr 18 2011 // Allstate Insurance says it wants to open nearly 50 new agency offices in Florida. About half of those openings will be in north Florida, the company said. “North Florida has shown incredible growth for our...
Florida Parents Sue School District Over Daughter’s ‘Sexting’ Suicide
Apr 15 2011 // The parents of a 13-year-old Tampa girl who hanged herself after enduring classmates’ taunts over a revealing photo texted to a boy have sued the school district. The parents of Hope Witsell filed a federal lawsuit...
Florida Jury Rules State Farm Driver Owed $3 Million in Lawsuit
Apr 14 2011 // A middle school teacher in Florida has been award $3 million in damages after a jury found State Farm refused to live up to its contract on a 2008 car accident. David Bowler sued State Farm for damages and medical costs...
