Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Association of Insurance Agents Names New Board Members
Jun 18 2008 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents named three new board members at its annual conference held June 13-15. Each will serve on the board for a term of three years. Robert S. Ludwig, AIC, vice president of...
NIA Group Acquires Florida-based Taylor Financial Insurance Agency
Jun 18 2008 // Insurance brokerage firm The NIA Group LLC acquired Taylor Financial Insurance Agency of Jacksonville, Florida, marking NIA’s third agency purchase in the Sunshine State. Taylor Financial provides employee benefits...
Salmonella Cases from Eating Raw Tomatoes Found in Florida, North Carolina
Jun 16 2008 // A Southwest Florida man is the state’s first victim of the salmonella outbreak tied to raw tomatoes. State Health Department officials say the unidentified man got sick after eating tomatoes during a visit to New...
Florida Task Force Issues Final Report on Citizens’ Claims Handling
Jun 16 2008 // The Task Force on Citizens Property Insurance Claims Handling and Resolution, created during the 2007 Legislative Special Session, issued its third and final report. In addition to the June 11 submission, the task force...
Florida Extends State Insurer’s Rate Freeze for Another Year
Jun 16 2008 // When the dust settled at the end of the 2008 legislative session, Florida lawmakers had presented their governor with a full plate of insurance issues, the most significant of which is a bill including a rate-freeze...
Declarations
Jun 16 2008 // Asbestos Ruling “We hold that the Act cannot constitutionally be so applied and return the cases to the trial court for consistent proceedings.” —The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled, stating...
State Regulators Call for More Study of Credit Scoring Use in Insurance
Jun 16 2008 // State regulators told Congress that more study of credit scoring use by insurance companies is needed to determine if the practice is unfairly discriminatory. “As state regulators, it is our sincere desire that the...
Olympus Insurance Decreases Homeowners Rates in Florida
Jun 12 2008 // Olympus Insurance Co. of Orlando, Fla., lowered its homeowners insurance rates, most notably in inland counties and for newer homes. The lower rates will have greatest effect on 33 inland counties across Northern and...
Workers’ Comp Insurer AmCOMP Fights Excess Profits Charge in Florida
Jun 11 2008 // Florida-based workers compensation insurer AmCOMP Inc. has asked for a hearing to dispute Florida officials’ claim that its profits have been excessive. According to AmCOMP’s request for the hearing, the...
Privacy Lawsuits Against Maine Grocer Consolidated by Federal Court
Jun 11 2008 // More than 20 lawsuits stemming from a massive security breach of Hannaford Bros. Co.’s computer system have been consolidated and assigned to a federal court in Maine. The case will be heard by U.S. District Judge D....
Florida Extends 1% Hurricane Surcharge Until 2014
Jun 11 2008 // The Florida Cabinet voted to extend a 1 percent insurance policy surcharge to cover hurricane claims that began in 2007 for two additional years through 2014. The assessment covers outstanding claims that originated during...
Possible Tornado Damages Dozens of Mobile Homes in Florida
Jun 10 2008 // Florida officials said a possible tornado that moved through northern Lee County damaged about 50 mobiles homes, but no one was seriously injured. North Fort Myers Fire Chief Terry Pye said at least eight homes were...
Nebraska High Court Rules Against Florida in 10 Year Old Case
Jun 9 2008 // A multimillion-dollar insurance dispute that’s a decade old received new life on its third trip to the Nebraska Supreme Court because the court ordered a new trial on June 6. Consequently, the state of Florida...
Feds Say Several Problems Caused Florida Parking Garage Collapse
Jun 5 2008 // A federal safety official says a combination of construction and design problems triggered the collapse of a Jacksonville, Fla. parking garage last December that killed one worker. The federal Occupational Safety and...
Florida Court Decides Asbestos Act Can’t Be Retroactively Applied
Jun 4 2008 // When Florida lawmakers passed asbestos legislation in 2005, they muddied the waters for plaintiffs afflicted with asbestosis who were in the throes of litigation. The state’s Fourth District Court of Appeal has now...
3 Homes, 800 Acres Burned in Southwest Florida Fire
Jun 2 2008 // A fire that officials say is “highly suspicious” has burned three homes in southwest Florida. The blaze consumed more than 800 acres in Golden Gate Estates near Naples, which is on Florida’s southwest...
Florida Regulator Issues Final Order in Hartford Rate Challenge
Jun 2 2008 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty affirmed the ruling of an administrative law judge regarding the rate filing challenge between the Office of Insurance Regulation and The Hartford Companies. McCarty’s...
More Catastrophe Fund Surcharges Likely for Florida Policyholders
Jun 2 2008 // Florida residents could soon be faced with increased surcharges on their home, auto and other insurance policies because the state’s catastrophe fund needs more money to pay claims from past hurricanes. The Florida...
Florida Lifts Allstate Suspension
Jun 2 2008 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has lifted the suspension of the Allstate Companies’ licenses to sell new business in the state. McCarty said the decision came after Allstate submitted an affidavit...
Business Moves
Jun 2 2008 // Main Street America, Great Lakes Casualty The Main Street America Group, a regional property/casualty insurer based in Jacksonville, Fla. that writes business up and down the East Coast, is expanding to the Midwest. The...
