Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida, New York Tops in Insurance Claims from Staged Accidents
May 17 2010 // Suspicious insurance claims from staged accidents are on the rise – and nowhere more than in New York and Florida, two states with no-fault statutes. Overall, the number of questionable claims from staged accidents...
Business Moves
May 17 2010 // Fiesta Auto Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Fiesta Auto Insurance, a franchise system to combine insurance and tax preparation under one roof, announced it has opened 20 new locations during the past 90 days. The...
Florida #1 in Staged Accident Claims
May 17 2010 // Suspicious insurance claims from staged accidents are on the rise- and nowhere more than in New York and Florida, two states with no-fault statutes. Georgia and North Carolina are also among the top states. Overall, the...
Florida Lawmakers Pass Omnibus Property Insurance Bill
May 17 2010 // On the final day of this legislative session, Florida lawmakers passed omnibus legislation that aims to bring more control over homeowners insurance costs, raises the state’s minimum capital requirements for...
Florida Consumer Advocate Dartland to Crist: Sign Property Insurance Bill
May 14 2010 // The chorus urging Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to sign an omnibus property insurance measure passed by the Legislature is growing. One of the state’s leading consumer advocates, Walter Dartland, of the Consumer...
Florida Insurers Head Into Hurricane Season with Fingers Crossed
May 14 2010 // Florida’s property insurance companies haven’t suffered hurricane losses for nearly five years, but many claim to be losing money even while collecting hefty premiums. It’s a complex paradigm for almost...
Survivors Can’t Forget Fierce Hurricane That Hit Florida in 1935
May 14 2010 // The seven elderly guests on stage at Island Christian Church were just kids 75 years ago when a Category 5 hurricane barreled into their homes in the Upper Florida Keys, leaving a trail of destruction and death. A packed...
Florida Man Charged with Arson of His Yacht Named Shameless
May 14 2010 // A Tallahassee man has been arrested on charges of arson, insurance fraud and grand theft after state investigaors said they determined the suspect intentionally set fire to his yacht, a 50-foot SeaRay named...
Florida Eliminates Time Limit on Sex Abuse Claims
May 13 2010 // Florida’s governor has signed a bill eliminating all time limits for filing criminal or civil action alleging sexual abuse of children. Gov. Charlie Crist signed the bill (HB 525) on Tuesday. It lifts statutes of...
Florida Hurricane Funds Seeks $693 Million for Reopened 2005 Claims
May 12 2010 // The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund is to begin selling $693 million in tax-exempt bonds to help repay insurers for new and reopened claims from 2005 storms. The bonds are secured in part by emergency assessments levied...
Florida Creates Legal Team on Oil Spill Recovery
May 12 2010 // Two former Florida attorney generals will be leading a legal team to represent the state on issues resulting from a runaway oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Jim Smith, who was attorney general between 1979 and 1987 and...
McCarty Denies Bill Means Automatic Rate Hikes; Urges Crist to Sign It
May 12 2010 // Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may have just received an important nod he needs to be able to sign a homeowners insurance bill headed towards his desk. In a letter, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is urging Crist...
Florida Workers Compensation Rates to Drop Again
May 12 2010 // Workers compensation insurers writing in Florida have filed for an average 4.2 percent rate decrease. This marks the eighth decrease in workers compensation rates since 2003. The cumulative overall statewide average...
Florida Woman Awarded $36 Million Over Steroid Injection Malpractice
May 11 2010 // A Deerfield Beach, Florida woman who was left partially paralyzed after a botched steroid injection has won a $36 million malpractice verdict. A Palm Beach County jury ordered former pain management doctor Andrew Weiss to...
Florida, New York Tops in Insurance Claims from Staged Accidents
May 10 2010 // Suspicious insurance claims from staged accidents are on the rise— and nowhere more than in New York and Florida, two states with no-fault statutes. Overall, the number of questionable claims from staged accidents...
Florida Lawmakers Pass Omnibus Property Insurance Bill
May 3 2010 // On the final day of this legislative session, Florida lawmakers passed omnibus legislation that aims to bring more control over homeowners insurance costs, raises the state’s minimum capital requirements for...
Florida ‘s Magnolia Insurance to Be Liquidated
May 3 2010 // A Leon County, Florida judge has given state officials the go-ahead to liquidate home insurer Magnolia Insurance Co. The order was issued April 30. Magnolia Insurance Co. was placed under administrative supervision by...
Florida’s Northern Capital Goes Under
May 3 2010 // A Florida court has ordered Miami-based Northern Capital Insurance Co. (NCIC) into receivership for the purpose of rehabilitation. At the same time, the court ordered the subsequent liquidation of the company, effective...
Declarations
May 3 2010 // MGAs Attract “From a national and Florida’s perspective, MGAs are the best and sometimes only way to attract private capital into a hurricane-prone state. While effective oversight is always appropriate, it is...
Florida Reinstates Parental Waiver for Parks, Motorsports
May 3 2010 // The Florida Legislature has passed a bill reinstating parental waivers of liability against theme parks, go-cart tracks and similar businesses. It now goes to Gov. Charlie Crist. The measure gained support after the...
