Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fla. CFO Seeks to Clarify Reported Confusion with Storm Claims, Outlines Options to Help Consumers
Mar 30 2005 // Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher on Wednesday raised concerns with confusing policy language and recommended solutions for helping consumers navigate through their homeowners insurance policies and...
Fla. Asbestos Bill Gains Initial Committee Approval
Mar 30 2005 // The first steps toward achieving asbestos litigation reform in Florida were taken Wednesday, according to the American Insurance Association (AIA). The Asbestos and Silica Compensation Fairness Act of 2005 (HB 1019)...
Citizens Board Hoping Fla. Legislature Will Pay its $525 Million Shortfall
Mar 29 2005 // Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp., Florida’s insurer of last resort, is projecting a $525 million deficit and could have to make it up by assessing property owners, but is putting the action off until a...
April Town Hall Meetings Schedule, Locations Announced in Fort Pierce, Jupiter, Bartow
Mar 29 2005 // Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher has announced that due to overwhelming responses at the four town hall meetings held so far, three additional town hall meetings have been scheduled in April. Gallagher...
Fla. Bills Propose Standardize Policies, Rating Territories; Might Lower CAT Cap
Mar 28 2005 // Standard insurance policies, standard rating territories and lowering the cap from $4.5 million to $4 million on the amount of insured losses that a company has to sustain before drawing money from the Catastrophe Fund are...
Citizens Task Force Preliminary Data Estimates a $527 Million Deficit
Mar 24 2005 // Preliminary data released by Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp., Florida’s insurer of last resort, indicates the company racked up a $527 million deficit in its windstorm account in 2004. Citizens officials...
PCI: Fla. Hurricane Cat Fund Changes are Key to Property Market Stability
Mar 22 2005 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) is urging the Florida Legislature to establish an annual hurricane deductible for insurers and lower the threshold of losses that an insurer must sustain before...
BILL TO EASE INTERNATIONAL SALES
Mar 21 2005 // The Legislature is considering a bill that could make the state a center for international insurance, much as it already is for international banking. The House Insurance Committee unanimously passed the measure Feb. 22....
Insurance-Related Subjects Top Florida Legislature’s To-Do List
Mar 21 2005 // The Florida Legislature began its spring session March 8 with insurance-related topics expected to take the limelight with several dozen proposals before the governing body, ranging from giving consumers more tools to...
Florida, Alabama Get Tough on Unpaid Claims
Mar 21 2005 // Thousands of irate homeowners mobbed state insurance officials in Florida and Alabama to complain about a wait of more than six months for their claims to be settled from the 2004 hurricanes. Tom Gall-agher, Florida Chief...
Workers’ Comp Varies Widely; Reforms Slow to Enact, Enforce
Mar 21 2005 // Employer responsibility for the expense of accidents and in some cases occupational illnesses, varies from state to state. Em-ployers must provide reasonable information, rules, supervision, training and safety. The word...
Victims Ask for Help at Town Hall Meetings; Gallagher to Propose ‘Standard’ Policies
Mar 21 2005 // Tom Gallagher, Florida’s CEO and House Insurance Committee Chair Rep. Dennis A. Ross, R-Lakeland, listened intently to an array of hurricane-related complaints – from families with nowhere to live to homeowners...
Fla. Cabinet’s Emergency Rule ‘Holds Insurers Feet to the Fire’ to Expedite Open Hurricane Claims
Mar 18 2005 // In response to a call by the Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet has approved an emergency rule to expedite the resolution of open claims from last year’s tropical...
Laurie Joins Northern Capital Board of Directors
Mar 18 2005 // John C. Laurie has been appointed a member of the board of directors of Northern Capital Inc. of Miami, Fla., the holding company for Northern Capital Insurance Co., a property and casualty company formed recently to...
A.M. Best Gives Service Insurance an ‘Excellent’ Rating
Mar 18 2005 // Service Insurance Company of Bradenton, Fla., hit with customer losses of more than $100 million in the four hurricanes that swept Florida in 2004, has received notice that it has been removed from A.M. Best’s rate...
Florida Bill Would Drop Collective Deductible, But Would Incur Long-Range Costs for Consumers
Mar 17 2005 // A bill that is moving through the Florida House of Representatives could leave consumers and businesses with a hefty bill if the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund is wiped out after a major hurricane. The proposed...
ELIOS Plantation, Fla. Office to Serve the East Coast
Mar 16 2005 // A new Plantation, Fla. office has been opened by ELIOS, a San Ramon, Calif. provider of paperless solutions technology for property and casualty insurance companies. Mario Garcia, ELIOS’ director of information...
CFO Slates Meetings March 19 in Orlando; April 2 in Ft. Pierce, Fla.
Mar 16 2005 // Florida homeowners will still have two opportunities to discuss hurricane-related insurance problems with CFO Tom Gallagher, his staff and insurance company representatives March 19 in Orlando and April 2 in Fort...
Regulators Name Consumer Liaison Reps for 2005
Mar 15 2005 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recently named its funded consumer liaison representatives for 2005. Established in 1992, the program promotes consumer representation and interaction with NAIC members,...
Fla. CEO Misses Fort Pierce Meeting Due to ‘Miscommunications’
Mar 15 2005 // More than 100 homeowners, clutching manila file folders full of hurricane-related paperwork, newspaper reporters and other interested persons milled around the Fort Pierce, Fla. City Hall on March 11 waiting for...
