Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Restaurant Sales Going Up After 3 Tough Years
Mar 7 2011 // Restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record $604 billion and post positive growth in 2011 after a three-year period of negative real sales growth. The 2011 forecast from the National Restaurant Association...
People
Mar 7 2011 // Jennifer McPhillips has been promoted to senior director of federal government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) and will serve as one of the...
Fraud Tax
Mar 7 2011 // It’s not very often that private insurers, state regulators, lawmakers and consumer groups are all on the same page on an insurance issue in Florida—or any state, for that matter. But this miracle is taking place...
Florida Announces 17 Arrests in Largest-ever PIP Bust
Mar 3 2011 // Florida’s “Operation Deep Horizon” has netted 17 arrests — including a clinic owner, doctors, clinic employees and staged recruiters — in the state’s largest-ever auto personal injury protection...
Florida Allows Reinsurer Allied World to Post Lower Collateral
Mar 3 2011 // Florida is allowing the Allied World Assurance Co. to meet a lower collateral requirement, making the Bermuda-based foreign reinsurer the ninth such reinsurer the state has approved. “We are encouraged by the number...
Tower Hill Completes Royal Palm Acquisition in Florida
Mar 2 2011 // The sixth largest insurance company writing property coverage in Florida is looking to increase its market share by acquiring the 14 highest property insurer in the state. Tower Hill Insurance Group, LLC., has announced...
Erickson Joins PMA in Florida
Mar 2 2011 // PMA Cos. has hired Krystal Erickson as an account executive for Florida. Erickson will be responsible for growing PMA’s workers’ comp, commercial auto and general liability third part claims administration...
Holocaust Survivors Want U.S. to Push European Insurers on Payments
Mar 2 2011 // Aging survivors of the Nazi Holocaust plan to protest outside a political fundraiser in Miami Beach featuring President Barack Obama this week to publicize their struggle to collect what they say is $20 billion in Jewish...
Florida Interests Unite Against Auto Accident Fraud
Mar 1 2011 // Florida insurers, government agencies and consumer advocate groups have established a statewide alliance to push for legislative reforms aimed at cracking-down on staged-accidents that the industry says are costing Florida...
Florida Approves Lower Collateral for Reinsurer Tokio Millennium
Feb 28 2011 // Florida has approved lower collateral payments for another Bermuda reinsurer, the eighth foreign reinsurer to be granted this approval by the state. Tokio Millennium Re Ltd., a subsidiary of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire...
Florida Officials Question Cost of Red Light Cameras
Feb 25 2011 // Some South Florida officials say it’s becoming too costly to use automatic cameras to ticket drivers who run red lights. They had hoped their cities would collect millions of dollars in fines, thanks to the images...
Florida Insurers, Businesses Take Aim at PIP Fraud
Feb 24 2011 // Insurance companies are taking to the Internet to combat auto insurance fraud in Florida. The Property Casualty Insurers Association of American has launched www.InsuranceFraudUncovered.com, a Web site designed to...
Homeowners Choice Begins Expansion to Alabama
Feb 23 2011 // Homeowners Choice, Inc. a Florida-based insurance holding company, has taken initial steps to enter the Alabama homeowners insurance market, its first market outside of Florida. According to the company, it expects to...
People
Feb 21 2011 // Rodney Smith Lloyd’s of London has appointed Rodney Smith to serve as the regional director for Lloyd’s newly established Southeast region. Smith will be based in Atlanta, Georgia and be responsible for market...
Business Moves
Feb 21 2011 // Mercury General, Florida Citing fourth quarter losses in Florida of $19 million, Mercury General said it would begin withdrawing from the state’s homeowners insurance market. The company will send the mandatory...
State Farm Florida Cites Sinkhole Claims in Rate Hike Bid
Feb 18 2011 // Citing sinkhole losses and higher operating expenses, State Farm Florida asked state regulators this week for a 28 percent premium increase on its homeowners policies. Sinkhole claims, which are approaching $2 billion over...
Florida Homeowners Settle Bombing Range Lawsuit for $1.2 Million
Feb 18 2011 // Homeowners in a southeast Orlando subdivision have settled a class-action lawsuit against a homebuilder for $1.2 million. An attorney for the residents in the Newport subdivision said the settlement was reached last week...
Florida’s BKS-Partners Finalizes Acquisition of IRMS
Feb 16 2011 // Tampa-based Baldwin Krystan Sherman Partners, LLC has completed its acquisition of the Naples-based Insurance and Risk Management Services employee benefits division. Baldwin Krystan, doing business as BKS-Partners, is...
Mood on Main Street: How Recession Changed Insurance Buying Habits
Feb 15 2011 // The recession has taken its toll on contractors, restaurants, retailers, small manufacturers and other Main Street business around the country and most of the survivors are not going to soon forget the pain of the past few...
Florida Jury Awards $260K to Tampa Smoker
Feb 14 2011 // A Florida jury ordered tobacco company R.J. Reynolds Friday to pay $260,000 in damages to a Tampa man who developed cancer from smoking, court officials said. The verdict was the latest among thousands of lawsuits against...
