Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Improved Credit Markets Aid Shaky Florida Hurricane Insurance Fund
Apr 16 2009 // Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet received a bit of encouraging news this week about the state’s tenuous hurricane catastrophe fund. The head of the agency responsible for Florida’s investments told...
Florida’s Patriot Forms Private Label Workers’ Compensation Unit
Apr 15 2009 // Fort Lauderdale-based wholesale insurance broker Patriot Risk Management, Inc. has formed Patriot Underwriters, Inc. to help expand its insurance distribution and policyholder services business. Patriot Underwriters will...
Chubb Alters Wind Coverage Offer in Southern Florida Coastal Counties
Apr 15 2009 // Chubb Personal Insurance has notified its agents it is no longer including wind coverage in Masterpiece homeowners insurance policies for new customers in 14 Southeast and Southwest coastal counties in Florida. The...
Feds Probe Cause of Deadly Explosion in Florida
Apr 10 2009 // A federal board investigating an explosion at Jacksonville’s T2 Laboratories are trying to determine whether the accident that killed four workers and injured 33 was an extraordinary mishap or a disastaer waiting to...
Florida Takes Over Coral Insurance; Security First, MacNeill Step In
Apr 10 2009 // Leon County Circuit Court Judge P. Kevin Davey ordered the Hollywood-based Coral Insurance Co., a residential property insurance provider in Florida, into receivership for the purpose of rehabilitation. The Department of...
U.S. Lawmakers Seek Ban on Tainted Chinese Drywall
Apr 10 2009 // U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson, D.-Fla., and Mary Landrieu, D.-La., have filed legislation for a recall and immediate ban on tainted building products from China, as more and more people around the country are reporting problems...
Flooding Threatens Florida Homes
Apr 9 2009 // Officials say flooding has damaged or destroyed 106 homes in north Florida and the Panhandle and they’re warning residents in the Suwannee River valley to expect more overflows. Portions of U.S. Highway 90,...
Florida Lawmaker Chides Lobbyist during Committee
Apr 8 2009 // A hurricane insurance bill that would help Florida reduce its multibillion-dollar exposure in the state’s tenuous insurance market moved through a Senate committee Monday — with sparks flying. The Senate...
Guy Carpenter: Rates Rising on U.S. Property Catastrophe Reinsurance
Apr 7 2009 // A new industry briefing shows reinsurance rates continuing to increase for the U.S. property-catastrophe reinsurance market for April 1, 2009 renewals. According to Guy Carpenter & Co.’s “Rates Up on...
Florida Denies State Farm Hearing on Homeowners Market Withdrawal Plan
Apr 6 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has denied State Farm Florida an administrative hearing on details of the insurer’s plan to withdraw from the state’s homeowners market. State Farm Florida has...
Florida Finds People Can’t Trust People’s Trust Insurance
Apr 6 2009 // One of Florida’s new startup property insurance companies that was expected to help pick up the slack when State Farm Florida exits the market has been barred from selling any new policies. The company was found to...
People
Apr 6 2009 // Florida Governor Charlie Crist has named Marjorie Renee Hill of Tallahassee as Judge of Compensation Claims. Hill, 47, has served as the director of the First District Court of Appeal’s Workers’ Compensation...
Declarations
Apr 6 2009 // Federal Aid “We need a more disciplined, structured plan for providing federal assistance following any major natural disaster.” —U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D.-Fla, in asking the U.S. Treasury to provide...
Florida Charges NFL’s Stallworth with DUI Manslaughter in Crash
Apr 3 2009 // The NFL and the Cleveland Browns are reviewing the charges against wide receiver Donte Stallworth, who is accused of killing a pedestrian while driving his Bentley drunk after a night out at a posh South Beach...
Florida Cap on Workers’ Compensation Lawyers’ Fees Goes to Senate
Apr 2 2009 // A bill that would trump a Florida Supreme Court ruling and restore a cap on attorneys’ fees in workers’ compensation cases passed the Florida House after some mild debate. Following a second round of discourse...
Florida Senate Postpones Vote on Catastrophe Funding Bill
Apr 2 2009 // A Senate committee searching for ways to improve Florida’s shaky property insurance situation and lower the state’s risk recommended borrowing money from the state retirement system to obtain some short-term...
Florida Suspends License of Weakened Coral Insurance
Apr 1 2009 // A Florida domestic property insurance company has been told to stop writing business– the second time in a week state regulators have had to act against an insurer. Hollywood-based Coral Insurance, which began doing...
Florida Panel Advances Bill to Restore Parental Liability Waivers for Kids
Mar 31 2009 // A Florida House panel moved to override a recent state Supreme Court decision that blocked enforcement of a liability waiver signed by a parent on behalf of his child. The Florida Supreme Court in December held in Kirton...
Florida Denies State Farm Hearing on Withdrawal Plan
Mar 30 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has denied State Farm Florida an administrative hearing on details of the insurer’s plan to withdraw from the state’s homeowners market. State Farm Florida has...
Florida House Moves Workers Comp Attorneys’ Fee Limit Bill
Mar 30 2009 // A bill that would restore a cap on attorney’s fees in Florida workers’ compensation cases is ready for a final vote in the House. After an amendment was defeated, the measure (HB 903) sponsored by Rep. Anitere...
