Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Widow’s Trial Victory in Florida a Setback for Tobacco Industry
Feb 17 2009 // A Florida jury ruled last Thursday that a smoker’s death was caused by his addiction to cigarettes, a legal setback for cigarette giant Philip Morris in the first of potentially thousands of cases to go to trial. The...
Florida Rejects State Farm Withdrawal Plan; Requires Major Conditions on Citizens, Agents
Feb 13 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has offered a withdrawal plan for State Farm Florida Insurance Co. and its parent company with major conditions that were not in the original plan submitted by the insurer. In...
Florida Approves 6.4% Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rate Hike
Feb 11 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has approved a 6.4 percent increase in workers’ compensation insurance rates. The increase applies to new and renewal business and will become effective April 1. The...
It Figures
Feb 8 2009 // 1 in 6 The approximate ratio of drivers across the U.S. expected to be driving uninsured by 2010, according to the Insurance Research Council. The group says the economic downturn is expected to trigger a sharp rise in the...
Families’ Lawsuit Blames Florida Hospital Mold for Kids’ Deaths
Feb 6 2009 // The families of three pediatric cancer patients sued a Florida hospital this week, claiming their children died after contracting fungal infections from renovations being performed at the facility. The lawsuit filed by...
Florida Home-Grown Insurer Says It’s Ready for 30,000 State Farm Policies
Feb 6 2009 // After State Farm announced it would be leaving behind 1.2 million property policyholders within the next two years, state officials expressed confidence that the private insurance market, including a number of relatively...
Florida Lawmakers Question State Farm on Why It’s Leaving
Feb 5 2009 // State Farm Florida has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the state in the last decade and risks insolvency if it continues writing property insurance here, company executives told a legislative committee this...
Two Florida Insurance Scam Artists Lose Mail Fraud Appeal
Feb 5 2009 // Two men sentenced to federal prison for cheating investors out of more than $100 million in an insurance scheme have failed to convince an appeals court that they were unfairly convicted of mail fraud. The 11th U.S....
State Farm Rejects Call to Let Florida Agents Represent Other Insurers
Feb 4 2009 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is urging State Farm Florida to “immediately” let its agents do business with other insurance companies for their more than one million policyholders now that State...
<em>AP</em> Analysis: Florida Insurance Bind Overshadows Louisiana
Feb 3 2009 // Louisiana homeowners stunned by their rising insurance rates should remember that it could be worse. They could live in Florida. State Farm announced recently that it will stop doing business in Florida, the first big firm...
Florida High Court Rules Police Can Be Sued Over Safety Checks
Feb 2 2009 // A sharply divided Florida Supreme Court says law enforcement agencies can be sued over “safety checks” that go bad. The justices ruled 4-3 in the case of an elderly woman who later died after Marion County...
Florida Subpoenas State Farm Policyholder Data for Withdrawal Plan
Jan 30 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has issued a subpoena to State Farm Florida Insurance Co. requesting detailed information about the company’s Florida property insurance policyholders. The request comes...
Commissioner Reassures: Mississippi’s No Florida in Its Insurance Markets
Jan 28 2009 // Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney moved to quickly to reassure state leaders and policyholders that no big insurance companies are leaving Mississippi. Chaney issued a statement after the announcement by State Farm...
Florida Puts Brakes on Agent Accused of Not Placing Truckers’ Insurance
Jan 27 2009 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is urging the commercial trucking industry and the public to provide any information that may assist the Department of Financial Services’ ongoing criminal investigation into...
Florida Gas Stations Say Insurance Rule on Upgrading Tanks Too Costly
Jan 27 2009 // First it was high credit card fees. Then came higher gas prices. Now, hundreds of gas stations around the state are shutting down because their insurance companies will not renew policies unless stations install new...
State Farm Pulling Out of Florida Property Insurance Market
Jan 27 2009 // Florida is losing its largest property insurance company. State Farm Florida Insurance announced today it is beginning the process that will allow it to non-renew policies and halt all sales of homeowners or other...
Indiana Pulls Insurance Agent License of Pilot in Florida Jail
Jan 26 2009 // An administrative law judge in Indianapolis on Friday permanently revoked the Indiana insurance license of a financial adviser accused of bilking investors before trying to fake his death in a Florida plane crash. Judge...
Florida Signals 6.4% Workers’ Comp Rate Hike to Pay For Court Ruling
Jan 26 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said that he would approve a rate filing to increase Florida’s workers’ compensation insurance rates by 6.4 percent to be effective April 1 for new and renewal...
Florida Officially Rejects State Farm Rate Hike
Jan 25 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has affirmed the ruling of an administrative law judge and officially disapproved a State Farm Insurance homeowners rate filing that has been in dispute since last July. McCarty...
Florida Workers’ Compensation Market in Good Shape, Says State
Jan 25 2009 // Availability and affordability in Florida’s voluntary workers’ compensation market overall is good, although small firms, new firms and construction firms might face affordability issues due to unique...
