Latest Florida Headlines

Floridians Flock to Free Wind Inspections

Jul 7 2008 // More than 365,000 Florida homeowners have signed up for free wind inspections through the My Safe Florida Home program, only 35,000 inspections shy of the Florida Legislature’s goal of 400,000 by June 2009. The...

McCain, Southeast Governors Split Over National Disaster Fund

Jul 7 2008 // Republican Presidential Nominee Opposes Idea that Remains Popular with Many Gulf Coast Voters A congressional proposal to create a national “catastrophe fund” to help states recover from natural disasters has...

Public Adjusters Take the Heat for Reopened Hurricane Claims

Jul 7 2008 // Public adjusters are being blamed for thousands of unresolved insurance claims in Florida dating back to the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. A Florida task force monitoring how state-backed Citizens Property Insurance...

It Figures

Jul 7 2008 // 1% The amount of insurance policy surcharge the Florida Cabinet voted to extend to cover hurricane claims that began in 2007 for two additional years through 2014. The assessment covers outstanding claims that originated...

Jul 7 2008 // People The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) has announced the promotion of Mike Becker to director of federal affairs. Since joining PIA, Becker has managed the day-to-day responsibilities...

Florida Rejects Farm Bureau 30% Property Insurance Rate Hike Again

Jul 2 2008 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has officially adopted the ruling of an administrative law judge who rejected a 30.3 percent property insurance rate increase sought by Florida Farm Bureau. “Rulings like...

Florida Parents of Premature Baby Who Died Awarded $12 Million

Jul 1 2008 // A jury says the parents of a premature baby who died at Tampa General Hospital should be awarded $12 million dollars. Allyson Parham and Robert Gardner contended their child died because Tampa General didn’t have the...

Florida Elderly Services Crunch Could Spur Demand for Liability Insurance

Jul 1 2008 // Florida faces a crisis in meeting the demand for aging services over the next 22 years as the population aged 85 and older is forecast to grow by 126 percent. This will require 15,000 more skilled nursing beds at a time...

Florida Chief Financial Officer Appoints Deputy

Jun 30 2008 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink named Tammy Teston as deputy chief financial officer for the state’s Department of Financial Services. A former banker and businesswoman, Teston most recently served as the...

Palm Beach Capital Acquires Florida-based Workers’ Comp Provider

Jun 30 2008 // Palm Beach Capital of West Palm Beach, Florida, acquired SUNZ Group LLC, a workers’ compensation solutions provider. SUNZ, based in St. Petersburg, Florida and founded in 2005, provides workers’ compensation...

5 Cars, Motorcycle Crash in South Florida, 9 Hospitlaized

Jun 27 2008 // A crash in South Florida that involved five cars and a motorcycle sent nine people to hospitals authorities said. A Davie, Fla. Fire Rescue spokesman said paramedics also examined three people at the scene June 25. The...

Insurers Accuse Florida Regulators of Changing Rules in Mid-stream

Jun 26 2008 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies said a seemingly innocuous rule change proposed for Florida’s insurance system could further dissuade insurance companies from doing business in the state. The...

Florida-based Setnor Byer Insurance & Risk Adds Nicholson

Jun 26 2008 // Florida-based Setnor Byer Insurance & Risk and its affiliate, The Human Equation, hired Keith Nicholson to serve as vice president of finance. Nicholson brings 20 years of accounting experience to the firm, and comes...

Florida Free Wind Inspection Program Nears Goal

Jun 24 2008 // More than 365,000 Florida homeowners have signed up for free wind inspections through the My Safe Florida Home program, only 35,000 inspections shy of the Florida Legislature’s goal of 400,000 by June 2009. The...

Florida Citizens Insurance Board of Governors Chairman Retires

Jun 23 2008 // Florida’s state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. announced the retirement of its board of governors’ chairman. At its meeting in Jacksonville, Bruce Douglas said he decided not to seek reappointment to...

Ratings: Argonaut, MAPFRE (Fla.), Pekin, Penn National, AXA Art, Tennessee Farmers, ALPS, BancInsure

Jun 23 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of the Texas-based Argonaut Insurance Group and its members. Best also...

RenRe Hosts Hurricane Risk Mitigation Leadership Forum

Jun 20 2008 // Bermuda’s RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. marked the start of the 2008 hurricane season by holding a seminar, the first ever “Hurricane Risk Mitigation Leadership Forum”, which announced some key findings on...

Florida’s Citizens Secures $1.75 Billion for its High Risk Account

Jun 20 2008 // Florida’s state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., says it has secured pre-event financing of $1.75 billion for its high risk account. This amount is in addition to the $1.6 billion bank credit line obtained...

Feds Cite Florida Chemical Plant in Fatal Blast

Jun 20 2008 // The owners of a Florida chemical plant where a December explosion killed four workers were cited June 18, accused of violating federal safety standards. A report from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found...

McCain, GOP Governors Split Over Disaster Fund

Jun 19 2008 // A congressional proposal to create a national “catastrophe fund” to help states recover from natural disasters has put Republican presidential hopeful John McCain at odds with a handful of GOP governors —...