Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
It Figures
May 3 2010 // 40% The percentage of producers licensed in South Carolina who could lose their licenses if they missed the May 1 deadline for license renewal and completion of continuing education requirements. 38% How much higher the...
Business Moves
May 3 2010 // St. James St. James Insurance Group, based in Orlando, Fla., has re-entered the commercial lines business after a five year absence. The program manager has appointed Dave Stricker, former senior vice president of All...
Gulf States’ Wildlife Reserve, Tourism, Fisheries at Risk from Oil Spill
Apr 30 2010 // A massive oil slick from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to reach a wildlife reserve at the mouth of the Mississippi River Thursday as it threatens the environmentally delicate coastline of Louisiana and...
Gov. Crist Signs Florida Parental Waiver Bill
Apr 29 2010 // Businesses such as theme parks and go-cart tracks that offer potentially dangerous fun will regain liability protection for injuries to children that they lost due to a court ruling. Gov. Charlie Crist has signed into law...
Allstate Writing New Business in Florida, Weighs Citizens Policies
Apr 29 2010 // The Florida companies of Allstate Insurance Co. have been writing new homeowners and renters business for several months and have now indicated they may also assume some policies from the state-backed insurer, Citizens...
Florida’s 21st Century Drops Bid to Acquire HomeWise; Gets Rate Hike
Apr 28 2010 // Florida’s 21st Century Holding Co. has dropped its bid to acquire domestic property insurer HomeWise Holdings at the same time it reported that its own Florida property insurance unit it has received approval to...
Greg Gold, CIC, CISR Joins the Atlantic Specialty Lines of Florida Team
Apr 27 2010 // Atlantic Specialty Lines of Florida, the Western Florida office of the independently owned Wholesale Brokerage firm with offices throughout the Mid-Atlantic, announces that Greg Gold, an experienced marketing and field...
Florida Property Insurance Reform Could Happen This Week
Apr 26 2010 // The Florida Senate has got its property insurance reform bill back on the track for the final week of the legislatuve session. After his bill became hung up in debate by amendments last Thursday, Sen. Garrett Richter...
Florida Residents Seek $500 Million in Superfund Lawsuit
Apr 22 2010 // Residents of a neighborhood on the edge of a polluted Florida Superfund site have sued the property owners, seeking at least $500 million to decontaminate their homes and monitor their health. The so-called Cabot/Koppers...
Florida’s SUNZ Insurance Expands Workers’ Compensation to 5 States
Apr 21 2010 // SUNZ Insurance Co., a St. Petersburg, Florida-based insurer, has added five states to its coverage area for writing workers’ compensation policies. Known primarily for its presence in Florida, SUNZ said it is now...
Florida Legislature Passes Parental Waiver for Theme Parks, Motorsports
Apr 21 2010 // The Florida Legislature has passed a bill reinstating parental waivers of liability against theme parks, go-cart tracks and similar businesses. The House voted 114-0 Tuesday to pass the measure (SB 2440) that the Senate...
