Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Despite IRS Scrutiny, Micro-Captives Growing Like Weeds in Hard Florida Market
Dec 4 2024 // Despite continued uncertainty over the future of federal tax rules on micro-captive insurance companies, the instruments seem to be increasingly popular for small businesses, especially in Florida, where rates for...
Patronis to Leave Florida CFO Job to Run for Gaetz’ Seat in Congress
Nov 27 2024 // Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, whose office oversees insurance agent and adjuster licensing, along with insurance fraud investigations, plans to step down and run for Congress next year. News...
Florida Appeals Court Nods Enforceability of Forum Selection Clauses in PIP Cases
Nov 27 2024 // Nearly every insurance policy has a forum selection clause and nearly every opposite party wants to avoid them at all costs in hopes of finding a more favorable venue. A new opinion from Florida’s 3rd District Court...
Despite Storms, Moody’s Upgrades Florida Tax Bonds for Cat Fund, Citizens, FIGA
Nov 26 2024 // Despite four hurricanes in just over a year and significant payouts by the Florida Cat Fund, three special tax bonds have seen their ratings upgraded, the state’s insurance commissioner announced Monday. “These...
My Safe Florida Condo Program Runs Out of Funding in One Week
Nov 25 2024 // Just a week after a pilot program for strengthening Florida condominiums was launched it reached maximum capacity and is no longer accepting applications. The overwhelming response could underscore the need for wind...
Florida Regulators Demand Data From Weiss Ratings After Recent Reports on Insurers
Nov 22 2024 // Weiss Ratings, a Palm Beach Gardens financial ratings firm, sparked some outrage from the Florida insurance industry in recent weeks after it released reports contending that some of Florida’s largest property...
Florida Citizens’ Brass Tired of ‘Clickbait’ News on its Hurricane Claims Denials
Nov 22 2024 // Officials with Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. took issue Thursday with a number of national and Florida news reports that have suggested that the insurer has the “worst rate” on paying claims...
Redfin Reports Home Sales Dropping Fast in Five Florida Metro Areas
Nov 21 2024 // The five U.S. metropolitan areas with the biggest drop in home sales are all in Florida, the result of a perfect storm of rising insurance costs, homeowner association fees and repeat storms, a home sales tracking service...
New Florida Legislative Leaders Talk Tough on Property Insurance, But No Specific Plans
Nov 20 2024 // Florida’s newest legislative leaders on Tuesday rattled some sabers about property insurance rates and claims but offered no agenda for the upcoming session that begins in March, according to state news...
Florida OIR Approves 1% Average Workers’ Compensation Rate Decrease
Nov 19 2024 // Florida employers will soon see the smallest decrease in workers’ compensation rates in years – just a 1% reduction from current overall rates in the voluntary market. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation...
Two Florida Employees Charged with Defrauding Aetna of $1M
Nov 18 2024 // It was an inside job, one that cost an insurance company in Florida more than $1.1 million, authorities said. Investigators with Florida’s Department of Financial Services on Friday charged Rochell Green and Breana...
What to Know About Deductibles After Multiple Florida Hurricanes
Nov 18 2024 // Deductibles serve several purposes. They provide some premium relief for the insured. They make insureds less likely to file smaller claims because either damage falls within the deductible, or is so close to it that the...
Would Letting Roofers Do More Wind-Mitigation Work Help Reduce Florida’s Insured Losses in Storms?
Nov 18 2024 // A recent photograph of destruction left by Hurricane Milton’s wind tells the story: An entire roof section on a residential complex in Bradenton, Florida – including rafters and ceiling joists – was...
Rating Firm Says Florida Insurers Will Weather the Storms. Cat Fund Can Handle Payouts to Insurers
Nov 18 2024 // Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a state-created layer of reinsurance, expects to pay out about $4.6 billion to help cover insurers’ losses in Hurricanes Helene and Milton. But that won’t trigger a...
Florida Commission Accepts Three New Flood Models as Storm Impacts Rise
Nov 14 2024 // As with computer models that help predict risk from hurricane winds, insurers now have more than one model to use when gauging flood damage in storm-soaked Florida. The Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection...
Update: Citizens Resumes Binding as Rafael Turns Away From Florida
Nov 8 2024 // Click to enlarge Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has lifted its suspension on binding of policies as Hurricane Rafael turned away from Florida and was tracking toward Mexico and was expected to...
Florida Boom Metros See Biggest Drop in Home Prices Since 2011
Nov 8 2024 // An area along Florida’s west coast including affluent Sarasota is seeing the worst home price declines since the aftermath of the Great Recession, as the region recovers from hurricanes and faces rising...
‘Board Certified’ Could Soon Be an Advertising Thing for Florida Insurance Lawyers
Nov 7 2024 // By this time next year, plaintiffs lawyers, who have frequently been held up as thorns in the side of the Florida property insurance industry for their sometimes-aggressive pursuit of policyholder claims litigation, could...
Florida’s Citizens Suspends Binding on Policies as Another Storm Churns in the Gulf
Nov 6 2024 // Florida’s state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the largest insurer in the state, suspended binding on policies, statewide, as yet another hurricane approaches from the Carribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico....
Legal Weed Ballot Measure Falls Short of Supermajority Vote Needed in Florida
Nov 6 2024 // A constitutional amendment that would have legalized recreational marijuana in Florida won a majority of votes Tuesday but fell short of the required 60% needed to pass. The vote snuffs out what was expected to be a rush...
