Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida’s Homeowners Choice Reports Profitable Q4, Year 2009
Mar 10 2010 // Homeowners Choice Inc., a Florida-based homeowners’ insurer, reported a profitable fourth quarter and year 2009. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $807,000, compared to net income of $5.1 million for the...
New Florida Legislative Session Faces Familiar Problems
Mar 7 2010 // Randi Schuknecht worried that her longtime, established insurance company was about to leave Florida — and leave her without a homeowner’s policy. So she found a new insurer — one she wouldn’t have...
Florida Cabinet Delays Hurricane Fund Assessments
Mar 7 2010 // The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund needs $710 million to continue to pay claims still coming in from 2005’s Hurricane Wilma but it is going to have to wait to assess policyholders to get those funds. The Florida...
State of Challenge: How Florida’s Surplus Lines Agents Are Faring
Mar 7 2010 // Interview with FSLA President Bruce Bowers Weak Economy, Insureds Going Bare, Hungry Admitted Markets and Citizens’ Low Rates Test Agents Hurricane Andrew, for all of the grief it delivered, gave wholesale broker...
Bring Back the New York … or Florida … Insurance Exchange?
Mar 7 2010 // New York regulators are pursuing a reincarnation of the New York Insurance Exchange, a Lloyd’s of London-style insurance market, which lasted for several years the last time it was tried. Insurance Superintendent...
Focus on Florida Surplus Lines
Mar 7 2010 // Florida Surplus Lines Premiums/Policy Count 2009 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 Aggregate Premium $3.8 billion $4.2 billion $4.8 billion $4.7 billion $3.7 billion Policy Count 682,221 724,158 745,714 789,101 781,111 Top Florida...
Florida Lawmakers Block Sprinkler Mandate for New Homes
Mar 5 2010 // A Florida House committee wants to extinguish a proposed rule that would require fire sprinklers in many newly constructed homes. The House Governmental Affairs Policy Committee voted unanimously Wednesday for a bill that...
Rental Car Firm Vicarious Liability Case Reaches Florida Supreme Court
Mar 3 2010 // An accident victim’s lawyer this week urged the Florida Supreme Court to rule that rental car companies can be held liable for damages in an accident they did not cause in the state, even though a new federal law is...
South Carolina’s Love Joins Florida-Based Home Safety Institute
Mar 2 2010 // The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) in Tampa, Fla. announced that Allison Dean Love has joined the organization as external relations consultant. Love brings 20 years of experience in media relations,...
Florida Cabinet Delays Hurricane Fund Assessments
Feb 25 2010 // The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund needs $710 million to continue to pay claims still coming in from 2005’s Hurricane Wilma but it is going to have to wait to assess policyholders to get those funds. The Florida...
Florida Recruits First Reinsurer Under Relaxed Collateral Rules
Feb 25 2010 // Florida insurance officials have reached an agreement with the first foreign reinsurer to operate under collateral requirements that were reduced in 2008 in an attempt to attract new reinsurers to the state. The Florida...
New Florida Legislative Session Faces Familiar Insurance Problems
Feb 24 2010 // Randi Schuknecht worried that her longtime, established insurance company was about to leave Florida — and leave her without a homeowner’s policy. So she found a new insurer — one she wouldn’t have...
Arkansas: Company Marketing Fraudulent Insurance Products Must Stop
Feb 24 2010 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford has suspended the non-resident business entity producer’s license of Cinergy Health Inc. pending the outcome of an administrative hearing scheduled for March 11, 2010, at...
Florida Property Insurance: Northern Capital Loses Rating; HomeWise Consolidates
Feb 24 2010 // One fast-growing Florida homeowner insurer has had its rating pulled by its rating agency and reportedly halted new business while another domestic carrier is consolidating its business into one company from two. Northern...
Florida Insurer Citizens Finds Inequities in Homeowner Discounts
Feb 22 2010 // Recent policyholder inspections by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. found some homeowners are getting more of a discount for fortifying their homes than they are eligible for. The state-backed insurer looked at 452...
Business Moves
Feb 21 2010 // OneBeacon, Tower Group Massachusetts-based OneBeacon Insurance Group has agreed to sell its personal lines business to Tower Group Inc. in a deal that comprises two affiliate insurers and two reciprocal insurance exchanges...
Idaho Home Insurance Costs Lowest in Nation
Feb 21 2010 // Idaho homeowner insurance is the least costly in the nation, averaging $422 per year, according to a nationwide survey. This compares to an average $822 countrywide. The Gem State also had among the lowest average rates...
Florida Shuts Down Warranty Firms
Feb 17 2010 // Florida regulatory officials have ordered several firms selling home and auto warranty and service agreements to halt their sales in the state. The companies include National Home Protection, Nationwide Home Warranty and...
Florida Court Overturns $12 Million Drunk Driving Verdict Against School
Feb 12 2010 // A Florida appeals court has reversed a $12 million verdict against a Miami archdiocesan high school previously found liable for the injuries of a student who survived a drunken driving crash. Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll...
Florida Court Restricts Litigation Notice Rule Under No-Fault
Feb 11 2010 // A 2001 amendment to Florida’s no-fault law that requires insureds to notify their insurer that they intend to sue cannot be applied retroactively to policies issued before the amendment was enacted. The Florida...