Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
Florida Senate Committee Advances PIP Bills
Apr 14 2011 // A pair of bills aimed at cracking down on the runaway fraud that has vexed automobile insurers in recent years moved through a key Senate panel this week. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee narrowly approved the...
P/C Industry Depends Too Much on Catastrophe Models, Says Pioneer Clark
Apr 14 2011 // Catastrophe models are a great risk management tool for property/casualty insurers but even the person who created the first one is worried that they are being given more credit and influence than they deserve. Karen Clark...
Former Florida Gov. Crist Settles Music Copyright Lawsuit
Apr 13 2011 // Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has settled a lawsuit filed by Talking Heads singer David Byrne after Crist used one of the group’s songs without permission in a campaign ad last year, both parties have...
Florida’s ‘Most Wanted’ Insurance Fraudster Arrested
Apr 13 2011 // One of Florida’s first “Most Wanted” insurance criminals was arrest based on a tip provided through the state’s new fraud Web site. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced that Erline...
Florida Approves 18.8% State Farm Rate Increase
Apr 12 2011 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has approved a statewide average 18.8 percent rate increase in State Farm’s homeowners’ policies, which is roughly 10 percent below the 27.9 percent it initially...
Gulf Coast Officials Enjoy Spending Spree at BP’s Expense
Apr 12 2011 // In the year since the Gulf oil spill, officials along the coast have gone on a spending spree with BP money, dropping tens of millions of dollars on gadgets, vehicles and gear — much of which had little to do with the...
Workers’ Comp TV Show Pilot Begins Filming in Florida
Apr 11 2011 // Hollywood thinks workers’ compensation can be funny. Workers’ Comp, a half-hour TV comedy about crazy employees handling absurd and often-fraudulent insurance claims from injured workers, begins filming pilot...
Florida House Panel Approves Medical Liability Bill
Apr 11 2011 // A bill that would further reform medical malpractice suits in Florida has been approved by a House panel. The bill increases the burden of proof for plaintiffs to win medical malpractice cases. It largely makes hospitals...
Florida’s Patriot National Group Appoints Zamary
Apr 7 2011 // Patriot National Insurance Group has appointed Robert Zamary as senior vice president of the newly formed Client Enterprise Services department, which will integrate policyholder services, billing, collections, and premium...
