Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Workers’ Comp Law Shields Disney World, SeaWorld from Suits
Sep 17 2010 // They are two of Central Florida’s biggest and best-known employers — and both face the prospect of potentially ugly lawsuits stemming from a worker’s death on the job. And yet Walt Disney World, which is...
U.S. Judge Sets December Date for Health Care Suit Hearing
Sep 15 2010 // A Florida judge said Tuesday he would hear arguments Dec. 16 on a lawsuit by 20 U.S. states seeking to block President Barack Obama’s overhaul of the U.S. health care system. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, who is...
Florida Arrests Alleged Citizens Property Scammer
Sep 13 2010 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink today announced the arrest of Aylin Hernandez, 23, of Miami, for fraudulently diverting mail and stealing payments intended for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Hernandez...
Blue Cross Leads Health Insurers in Florida
Sep 10 2010 // Florida released a report yesterday listing the market share and earnings of accident and health insurers, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. ranked first in premiums earned, with $3.9 billion in direct...
Departure of Insurer from Florida Points Up Fraud Problem
Sep 9 2010 // With a letter sent out a few weeks ago, Explorer Insurance announced that it will no longer write private automobile policies in Florida because there is too much fraud. “The company is taking this action in light of...
Florida Arrests Two Insurance Executives for Lying on Statements
Sep 9 2010 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced today the culmination of an extensive insurance fraud investigation with the arrest of Luis M. Espinosa, 60, and Rene M. Cambert, 55, on eight first degree felony counts...
Florida’s Citizens Says Sinkhole Claims Forcing Proposed Rate Hike
Sep 8 2010 // At a hearing yesterday before the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. officials blamed sinkholes as the major reason the public insurer needs a rate increase. Testifying at the public...
Florida Plans Hearing on Citizens’ Rate Increases
Sep 7 2010 // Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation will hold a hearing on proposed rate increases for several lines of insurance from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. at 1 p.m. on Sept. 7, 2010, in Tallahassee. The lines of...
How Katrina Changed Markets
Sep 6 2010 // Industry Came Through Five years after Hurricane Katrina lashed the coast and sunk New Orleans, it is true that the area has largely recovered, but it is not the same Gulf Coast it once was. The same is true for the...
Hurricane Katrina Changed the Market in Gulf States
Sep 6 2010 // Writing about the landfall of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, essayist Ellis Anderson of Mississippi likened the communities along the gulf to a string of pearls. “Then, in August 2005, in the course of a single...
Florida Workers’ Comp Reform Slowed Cost Growth
Sep 3 2010 // Reform of Florida’s workers’ compensation fee schedule in 2003 achieved its intended results, significantly increasing the prices paid for physician services and reducing the average payment per service for...
Hub Acquires Nevada, Florida Agencies
Sep 2 2010 // Hub International Limited (Hub) has acquired two insurance agencies in the Nevada and Florida. Hub acquired the assets of McFadden Insurance Agency Inc. (McFadden), a Las Vegas–based firm. Terms of the acquisition...
Storm Advice Offered for Florida Cell Phone Users
Aug 30 2010 // With Hurricane Danielle and Tropical Storm Earl roaming the Atlantic Ocean and signaling the start of the most active period of the 2010 storm season, Verizon Wireless urged Florida residents to prepare their emergency...
Florida-based Unisouce Aquired
Aug 30 2010 // Texas. U.S. Risk, a privately owned specialty lines underwriting manager and wholesale broker headquartered in Dallas, Texas, today announces the acquisition of Sarasota Florida based Unisource Program Administrators. The...
Hurricane Katrina Changed the Market in Gulf States
Aug 27 2010 // Writing about the landfall of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, essayist Ellis Anderson of Mississippi likened the communities along the gulf to a string of pearls. “Then, in August 2005, in the course of a single...
Florida Agents Group Appoints New Board Members
Aug 25 2010 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents has appointed three new members to its Board of Directors. The appointments were made during FAIA’s 106th Anniversary Convention and Education Symposium. “The FAIA...
Florida Solicits Sinkhole Data from Insurers
Aug 25 2010 // Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation issued a data call yesterday to the commercial and residential property insurance industry in Florida to collect claims data related to sinkholes. During the 2010 Legislative...
Ratings Roundup: AMEX, Castle Key, Torus, Hartford (debt)
Aug 25 2010 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a” of AMEX Assurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express Company. The...
OSHA Cites Florida SeaWorld Regarding Trainer Death
Aug 24 2010 // The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited SeaWorld for safety violations following the death of killer-whale trainer Dawn Brancheau at its Orlando park in February. OSHA is citing SeaWorld of Florida...
Florida Insurance Department to Survey on Sinkholes
Aug 23 2010 // Starting this month, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is going to begin surveying Florida property insurers about their experience with sinkhole claims, in an effort to get to the bottom of the simmering...
