Latest Florida Headlines

Storm-tested, researched Fla. building codes remain a work in progress

Jun 4 2007 // When Category 5 Hurricane Andrew damaged or destroyed more than 125,000 Florida homes and left about 250,000 people homeless in south Miami-Dade County, the destruction was born from a mix of 165 mph winds, outdated...

Personal Lines LEADERS

Jun 4 2007 // About the Personal Lines Leaders: The Personal Lines Leaders in this special feature are taken from Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Property Casualty Independent Agencies as reported in April. This list utilizes only the...

From Cuba to Capitol Hill

Jun 4 2007 // Alex Soto, president of the large InSource agency in Miami, and president of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, is not afraid to speak his mind or criticize his own industry. He’s familiar...

Jun 4 2007 // People Chicago-based Aon Corp. reported that David P. Bolger, executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, will leave the company after the appointment of his successor. Bolger will...

News Currents

Jun 4 2007 // Storm-tested, researched Fla. building codes remain a work in progress When Category 5 Hurricane Andrew damaged or destroyed more than 125,000 Florida homes and left about 250,000 people homeless in south Miami-Dade...

RMS withdraws 5-year hurricane model from Fla.

Jun 4 2007 // Risk Management Solutions has withdrawn a short-term, five-year hurricane forecasting model submitted for approval to Florida officials after being told the model did not meet required standards. Mitch Sattler, RMS vice...

Business Moves

Jun 4 2007 // Titan, Eastwood THI Holdings (Delaware) Inc., a Nationwide company, through one of its agency subsidiaries, has acquired the assets of Anaheim Hills, Calif.-based Eastwood Insurance Services Inc. for $217 million. Eastwood...

From Cuba to Capitol Hill

Jun 4 2007 // Alex Soto, president of the large InSource agency in Miami, and president of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, is not afraid to speak his mind or criticize his own industry. He’s familiar...

Personal Lines Profile

Jun 4 2007 // North Florida Agency Network Tallahassee, Fla. Owner(s)/principal(s): Rod Vaughn, Virginia Vaughn, Vanessa Jung 2006 personal lines premium: $29.6 million No. of personal lines insurers: 31 North Florida Agency Network is...

Personal Lines Profiles

Jun 4 2007 // Behnke & Associates Hollywood, Fla. Owner(s)/principal(s): Fred Behnke, Scott Kinzel, Mark Introcaso, Gene McFadden 2006 personal lines premium: $54.5 million No. of personal lines insurers: 10 Behnke &...

Personal Lines Leaders

Jun 4 2007 // Agency Name 2006 Personal Personal Total 2006 Main Office Main Office Web site Lines Lines P/C Premiums City State Premium Revenue Written 1 Keystone Insurers Group $316.0 million $39.5 million $790.0...

New Urban Search and Rescue Center Opens in Ocala, Fla.

May 31 2007 // Florida’s newest Urban Search and Rescue Training Facility was dedicated on the Florida State Fire College campus in Ocala on May 25 The state’s nine Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces and 53 Light Technical...

National Cat Fund Gains Congressional Support … But Is It Enough?

May 30 2007 // Unlike Florida’s Capitol in Tallahassee, where lawmakers have taken a number of actions to address the state’s insurance crisis with arguable results, solutions at the federal level have been hard to come...

Fla. Plaintiffs Settle with State Farm on Hurricane Damaged Screen Enclosures

May 25 2007 // A Broward County Court has approved a class action settlement on behalf of more than 12,000 State Farm Insurance policyholders in Florida who will receive 100 percent of the damages they requested in a $6.8 million...

E&S Carrier Ironshore Approved to Write Commercial Risks in Fla.

May 24 2007 // Bermuda-based Ironshore Insurance Ltd. reports it has been approved to write property, property catastrophe and casualty insurance on an excess and surplus basis for risks in Florida. Ironshore, formed in late 2006, is a...

Sen. Clinton Favors Federal Disaster Backup Fund, ‘Rebuilding’ FEMA

May 23 2007 // Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., campaigning in Florida, said this week the federal government needs to do more to prepare for disasters and that she favors the creation of a national...

Fla. Drought is Sapping Resources From Growers and Golf Courses Alike

May 23 2007 // The fairways here are flecked, the greens mottled brown. The PGA National Resort & Spa doesn’t look like a marquee golf course. “We’ll talk to people about it in the pro shop when they check in and...

Fla. Finance Office Forms Task Force on Citizens’ Claims Handling and Resolution

May 22 2007 // In an ongoing effort to improve Citizens’ policyholder and applicant services, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced appointees to the legislatively-created Task Force on Citizens Property Insurance...

Fla. Agents Send Response Vehicle to Tornado-ravaged Kan. Town

May 22 2007 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents’ state-of-the-art catastrophe response vehicle (CRV) arrived in Greensburg, Kan. earlier this week to assist insurance agents whose offices were demolished by the tornado...

Fla. Workers’ Comp Fraud Results in 14-Year Prison Sentence

May 21 2007 // The former owner and operator of a now-defunct professional employee organization, Miralink Group Inc., left thousands of workers in Florida and several other states without workers’ compensation coverage despite...