Latest Florida Headlines

Miss. Commissioner to Unveil Mediation Program Based on ‘Florida’s Model’

Dec 21 2005 // A mediation program for homeowners battling insurance companies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina will be unveiled Wednesday by George Dale, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner. The insurance commission’s staff has...

Gov. Bush Opposes Bailing Out Citizens With Tax Revenue; Suggests Using Reserve Fund

Dec 21 2005 // The state received an $800 million sales tax windfall from hurricane reconstruction last year, but Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that he’s against using any public dollars to bail out the state-created insurer...

Insurance Actuaries Prepared for Even More Damaging Hurricanes

Dec 19 2005 // Despite the unprecedented nature of the four hurricanes making landfall in Florida in 2004 and the huge disasters spawned in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005, panelists at the recent annual meeting of the Casualty Actuarial...

PIA of Fla. Board Presents Achievement Awards to Three Members

Dec 19 2005 // Ed Langston, Donald McMahon and Phil Zelman have been honored with awards for their achievements by the Professional Insurance Agents of Florida board of directors. Mark O’Connell, PIA of Florida CEO, presented...

STATE FARM OF FLORIDA 8.6 PERCENT RATE REQUEST APPROVED

Dec 19 2005 // The Florida Department of Insurance approved an average statewide premium rate hike of 8.6 percent for State Farm of Florida, the largest insurer of homes in Florida, insuring one out of every five homes. For some South...

FAIA Suggests: Eliminate High-Risk Account to Solve Wind Risk Problem

Dec 19 2005 // A “solution” to Florida’s hurricane insurance problems, based on research and an independent actuarial analysis showing hundreds of millions of dollars in savings, has been announced by the Florida...

FMHA Proposes Manufactured Housing Insurance Coverage

Dec 18 2005 // The Florida Manufactured Housing Association has announced it is studying the feasibility of starting its own insurance company to write coverage for mobile home owners. According to Frank Williams, FMHA executive...

Dec 18 2005 // Carriers View Gulf States As ‘Tough Place to Do Business’ More than 100 insurance and risk management executives and industry analysts attending a Future Focus conference in Charleston, S.C. predicted that...

FAIA Suggests: Eliminate HRA to Solve Wind Risk Problem

Dec 18 2005 // A “solution” to Florida’s hurricane insurance problems, based on research and an independent actuarial analysis showing hundreds of millions of dollars in savings, has been announced by the Florida...

FLORIDA

Dec 18 2005 // Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist and U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta announced four individuals, including two Miami physicians, have been arrested for allegedly participating in an organization that illegally...

News Briefs

Dec 18 2005 // FLORIDA State Farm of Florida 8.6 Percent Rate Request Approved The Florida Department of Insurance approved an average statewide premium rate hike of 8.6 percent for State Farm of Florida, the largest insurer of homes in...

Fla. Removes Internet-based ‘Pill Mills’

Dec 16 2005 // The arrests of three South Floridians on charges they operated unlicensed Internet-based “pill mills” have been announced by Attorney General Charlie Crist and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner...

Florida Authorities ‘Draw a Line in the Sand,’ Tighten Workers’ Comp Enforcement

Dec 16 2005 // In October, 2003, when the Florida Legislature approved an updated workers’ compensation program, legislators “drew a line in the sand,” according to Andrew Sabolic, chief of the Florida Bureau of...

Citizens Approves 45 Percent Coastal Rate Increase, 21 Percent Inland

Dec 15 2005 // The Citizens Property Insurance Corp. board of governors has decided to approve higher premium increases that average 45 percent on Florida’s coast and 21 percent inland. The state’s insurer of last resort had...

Hurricane Experts Mayfield, Bailey, Key Speakers at Feb. 8 Windstorm Insurance Conference

Dec 14 2005 // Two leading hurricane experts, Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, and Bill Bailey, director of the Hurricane Insurance Information Center will summarize the conclusion of the 2005 hurricane season and...

‘Certificates of Insurance, The Second Most Dangerous Piece of Paper,’ Jan. 9 CPCU Topic

Dec 12 2005 // Bill Perkins, a Florida Association of Insurance Agents instructor will present, “Certificates of Insurance, The Second Most Dangerous Piece of Paper,” a three-hour continuing education course, during the Jan....

Hurricane Wilma Reduced Fla. Orange Growers Production

Dec 9 2005 // Hurricane Wilma darkened the outlook for Florida orange growers, reducing production estimates by 15 percent, the Agriculture Department said. Still, this year’s crop will outdo last year’s by about 8 percent...

Florida Proposes Strict Insurance Fraud Reporting Requirements

Dec 8 2005 // Strict insurance fraud reporting requirements will soon be initiated by the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud, according to Tom Gallagher, Department of Financial Services CFO. In the wake of multiple hurricanes DFS has...

Md.’s Johns Hopkins Leads Effort on Disaster, Terror Response

Dec 8 2005 // How governments can best prevent, prepare and respond to mass casualties, whether from natural events such as Hurricane Katrina or a terror attack, is the mission of a new center led by Johns Hopkins University. A $15...

Zelman Receives PIA of Florida’s ‘Leadership Award’

Dec 8 2005 // Phil Zelman, vice president and co-owner of NCF Insurance Associates in Coral Gables, was awarded the Professional Insurance Agents of Florida’s “Leadership Award” at the PIA of Florida board of directors...