Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Business Moves
Jul 6 2009 // Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Grady & Associates Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire Grady & Associates, a retail broker in Las Vegas. The acquisition closed June 1,...
Florida Finds Owners for $173 Million in Unclaimed Property, Benefits, Deposits
Jul 2 2009 // Florida returned over $173 million in unclaimed property for the most recent fiscal year– the largest amount in state history, according to CFO Alex Sink and her Bureau of Unclaimed Property. The Bureau of Unclaimed...
Florida Gets Strict About Buckling Up
Jul 1 2009 // Florida drivers shouldn’t expect state troopers to let them off with just a warning if they are caught driving with their seat belt unbuckled now that a a new law has gone into effect. The Florida Highway Patrol...
Former MLB Pitcher Metheney Joins Florida’s Lassiter-Ware Insurance
Jul 1 2009 // Nelson Metheney has joined the team of Lassiter-Ware Insurance as a bond producer. Metheney previously worked as the vice president of bonding for Humphrey, Stump and Haynie Insurance in Salem, Virginia. Metheney was also...
Ratings Roundup: CastlePoint, Doctors, Meadowbrook
Jun 29 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” to CastlePoint Florida Insurance Company with stable outlooks. “CFIC is a newly...
U.S. House Panel to Bring Homeowners Insurance Crisis Hearing to Florida
Jun 26 2009 // A subcommitee of the U.S. House of Representatives that is looking into trouble spots in the country’s homeowner insurance market is coming to Florida in July. House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations...
Florida Trucker Paralyzed By Accident Awarded $14.6 Million
Jun 25 2009 // A South Florida truck driver has been awarded $14.6 million from an accident that left him paralyzed. A Broward Circuit Court judge ordered insurer National Casualty Co. to pay 64-year-old Derry Brown Jr. Jurors decided...
Florida Gov. Crist Vetoes ‘State Farm’ Insurance Rate Deregulation Bill
Jun 24 2009 // Siding with domestic insurers, consumer groups and the state insurance regulator, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist today vetoed a bill designed to keep State Farm from leaving and attract other large insurers to the state by...
New Florida Commercial Insurer CastlePoint Assigned Ratings
Jun 24 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” to CastlePoint Florida Insurance Co. (CFIC) of Fort Lauderdale. The rating firm said the outlook...
Florida Independent Insurance Agents Establish Charitable Fund
Jun 23 2009 // At its recent 105th annual conference in Orlando, the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) announced a donation of $500,000 to launch a new charitable project, the Good Works Fund. In addition to helping...
Florida, German Insurance Regulators Sign Cooperation Pact
Jun 22 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced that the Office of Insurance Regulation and the German Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) have agreed to work together on sharing and...
Ratings Recap: Argus, Universal No. Am., DTRIC, Knights of Columbus
Jun 22 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to ‘D’ (Poor) from ‘C-‘ (Weak) and issuer credit rating to “c” from “ccc-” of Florida-based Argus Fire &...
State Farm Says It Will Reconsider Florida Exit If Rates Deregulated
Jun 22 2009 // Florida’s biggest private insurer of property, State Farm Florida, has told Gov. Charlie Crist it would “be willing to re-examine its options” and its decision to leave the state’s home insurance...
Underage Drinking Costing Floridians $3 Billion a Year
Jun 19 2009 // Each year, the economic impact of alcohol-related crime, traffic crashes, health care and other costs attributable to underage drinking totals slightly more than $3 billion in Florida. Alcohol-attributable violent crime...
Florida’s Sunshine State Insurance Promotes Vanderpool
Jun 19 2009 // Jeffrey A. Vanderpool has been promoted to senior vice president and chief claims officer at Sunshine State Insurance Co. in St. Augustine, Fla. Vanderpool has served as vice president of caims since he joined the company...
Florida Amends Rules for Reporting Professional Liability Claims
Jun 18 2009 // Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has signed into law a bill that amends the rules for reporting of professional liability claims by insurers and health care providers. The bill (SB 2252) also defines when a claim exists and sets...
Did Florida’s 2003 Reforms Reduce Workers’ Comp Attorney Involvement?
Jun 18 2009 // After Florida limited the fees paid to attorneys in workers’ compensation in 2003, attorney involvement in cases fell only slightly, according to new research. A significant proportion of Florida workers injured at...
A.M. Best Downgrades State Farm Florida; Outlook Negative
Jun 18 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to B (Fair) from B+ (Good) and issuer credit rating to “bb” from “bbb-” of State Farm Florida Insurance Co. The rating agency’s...
Florida’s Argus Insurance Downgraded by A.M. Best
Jun 18 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to D (Poor) from C- (Weak) and issuer credit rating to “c” from “ccc-” of Argus Fire & Casualty Insurance Co. of North Miami Beach,...
Florida Bans Municipalities From Charging First Responder Fees
Jun 17 2009 // Florida Governor Charlie Crist has signed into law legislation blocking local governments from billing motorists for emergency response services at the scene of an automobile accident. SB 2282, sponsored by Sen. Mike...
