Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Home Insurer People’s Trust Ordered to Stop Writing New Policies
Mar 20 2009 // One of Florida’s new startup property insurance companies has been told to stop selling policies — at least for a while. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said Boca Raton-based People’s Trust has not...
Florida Woman Injured in Sherriff Crash Awarded $9.4 Million
Mar 17 2009 // A judge has ruled that the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office should pay $9.14 million to a woman who sustained permanent brain damage from a crash with a deputy. A judge ruled that Deputy Kenneth Petrillo was negligent...
Florida Program Manager Allied American Enters Personal Lines
Mar 17 2009 // National program insurance manager Allied American Underwriters-AAU, headquartered in Tampa, Fla. has introduced a new national personal lines division. The new programs specialize in writing personal clients on both an...
Florida Receives $900K Stimulus Funds for Wildfire Prevention
Mar 17 2009 // Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced that his department has been awarded $900,000 under the federal stimulus plan to conduct wildfire prevention efforts. The funding, which...
As Hurricane Season Nears, Florida Still Facing Large Exposure
Mar 16 2009 // Florida lawmakers need to make some smart decisions on reducing the risk for Florida property owners from hurricane damage, the state’s chief financial officer said Thursday. In a letter to key legislative leaders,...
Obama’s FEMA Director Brings Hurricane Experience from Florida
Mar 16 2009 // Florida emergency manager Craig Fugate would bring a lot with him if he takes over the Federal Emergency Management Agency: plenty of hurricane experience, a blunt style, and a belief that preparation begins on the local...
Florida CFO Sink: 4 Steps to Reduce State’s Hurricane Exposure
Mar 12 2009 // Citing the high level of catastrophic risk exposure Florida faces, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink today suggested guidelines for the Legislature to follow in working to reduce the state’s hurricane risk. CFO Sink...
Florida Officials Searching For Ways to Back Up Hurricane Fund
Mar 12 2009 // The state board that oversees the fund designed to pay homeowner claims in the event of a catastrophic hurricane searched this week for ways to reduce its risk with hurricane season only months away. The Board of...
Florida Gov. Crist OK With Rate Increases by Citizens
Mar 11 2009 // Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he’s OK with Citizens Insurance raising its property insurance rates. But not by too much. Crist said he didn’t favor rates be increased dramatically, but that he wanted to be...
Florida Surplus Lines Insurance Industry Seeks Regulatory Certainty
Mar 11 2009 // Surplus lines insurance industry leaders in Florida hope legislation working its way through the state Legislature will clarify how the industry will be regulated. The industry has had concerns about its future since court...
State Farm Appeals Conditions Placed on Florida Withdrawal
Mar 9 2009 // State Farm Florida on Friday appealed stipulations that Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has put on its plan to withdraw from the state’s property insurance market. Florida’s second largest insurer of homes...
Declarations
Mar 9 2009 // No Choice “They (Legislature) will do something because they have no choice.” —Sam Miller, executive director of the Florida Insurance Council, commenting on the need for the Florida Legislature to include...
Florida Governor’s Insurance ‘Plan’ Is Dangerous and Expensive
Mar 9 2009 // The Florida property insurance market today reminds me of the old cartoon with the insurance pitch: “Here’s a nice little policy with a real low premium if you promise never to have any claims.” When the...
It Figures
Mar 9 2009 // $35 Million The latest estimate of damage in Georgia from last month’s tornadoes. Commissioner John Oxendine said more than 100 homes, a private school, Southwestern State Hospital and commercial agricultural...
Florida Charges People’s Trust MGA Using Unlicensed Insurance Agents
Mar 6 2009 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has moved to prevent People’s Trust Insurance’s Managing General Agent from using unlicensed agents to sell its homeowners insurance. The action follows an...
Florida Panel Gives Green Light to Red Light Camera Bill
Mar 6 2009 // A Florida House panel has given the green light to a bill that would set requirements for the use of automatic cameras to fine owners of vehicles that run red lights. The measure, approved by the Roads, Bridges &...
Florida Insurance Taxes Could Fund Private School Vouchers
Mar 6 2009 // Insurance taxes may pay for private school vouchers in Florida for low income children. A House committee this week approved a measure that would allow insurance companies to send money to groups that provide vouchers to...
Missouri’s Ascension Insurance Buys Florida’s Bartlett Agency
Mar 5 2009 // Kansas City-headquarted Ascension Insurance, Inc. has acquired Dennis Bartlett agency of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Bartlett agency specializes in medical malpractice coverage and will join Employers Mutual, Inc., a...
Florida Homeowners’ Lawsuit Alleges Defective Chinese Drywall
Mar 4 2009 // A group of Florida homeowners sued German drywall maker Knauf Gips KG, its Chinese plasterboard units and several U.S. homebuilders on Monday, alleging contaminated drywall is sickening U.S. homeowners. The lawsuit said...
National City Banks Sells 2 Florida Insurance Agencies
Mar 4 2009 // An independent holding company owned by an insurance industry veteran has purchased Harbor Insurance Agency and Florida Consolidated Agency, both former wholly owned subsidiaries of National City Bank. The new owner, Tom...
