Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Man Dies From Smoke After Golf Cart Battery Fire in Milton Flooding
Oct 17 2024 // The death toll from Hurricane Milton has risen to at least 25, including an elderly man who died from smoke inhalation after a golf cart battery exploded when submerged by rising floodwaters. Local newspapers reported that...
People’s Trust Managed Repair Clause Survives Another Florida Legal Challenge
Oct 17 2024 // After at least three appeals court decisions in the last four years, homeowner lawsuits that take issue with a Florida insurance carrier’s managed repair program may finally have run their course. “It really...
Explaining Deductibles After Multiple Florida Hurricanes
Oct 16 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...
Milton Brings Winds, Flooding to Florida but Damage May Not Be as Heavy as Feared
Oct 10 2024 // Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday night, centered near Sarasota as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, a less-powerful storm than had been feared but one that brought some storm surge,...
Update: Florida CFO Bars Insurers From Altering Adjusters’ Reports Without Explanation
Oct 10 2024 // Almost two years after a group of independent claims adjusters alleged that insurers had deceptively altered their damage estimates and low-balled policyholders, Florida’s chief financial officer has issued an...
With Back-to-Back Storms, Florida Now Facing Delays in Claims Adjusting
Oct 10 2024 // With Hurricane Milton now expected to produce several hundred thousand wind-damage claims and with the storm coming so soon on the heels of Hurricane Helene, industry leaders are bracing for significant delays in claims...
Hurricane Milton Bears Down on Florida’s Tampa Area With House-Toppling Winds
Oct 9 2024 // Hurricane Milton churned toward Florida’s west coast with winds powerful enough to demolish houses, threatening to unleash once-in-a-century flooding across some of the state’s fastest-growing...
Unlicensed Work Does Not Void Contract With Condos, Florida Appeals Court Says
Oct 9 2024 // Being unlicensed as a contractor in Florida does not necessarily void a storm-remediation contract, a Florida appeals court said in a decision that could affect insurance defense strategy in hurricane claims. “This...
Florida CFO Issues Order Allowing Agency Customer Reps to Work Remotely
Oct 8 2024 // Florida law requires insurance agencies’ customer service representatives to work only at the agency office. But with another hurricane headed toward the state, and much of the western part of the state under...
Fourth Storm in 14 Months Takes Aim at West Florida. Citizens Most Exposed
Oct 7 2024 // Another day, another hurricane. That may be the thought in the minds of thousands of Floridians as Hurricane Milton makes its way toward the west coast of Florida – the fourth hurricane in 14 months to target the...
Rebuild or What? Florida Towns Hit Three Times by Hurricanes Face Tough Choice
Oct 4 2024 // HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It was just a month ago that Brooke Hiers left the state-issued emergency trailer where her family had lived since Hurricane Idalia slammed into her Gulf Coast fishing village of Horseshoe...
Helene-Soaked Florida Faces New Threat: Up to a Foot of Rain
Oct 4 2024 // One week after Hurricane Helene barreled ashore, Florida is bracing for another round of heavy rainfall and strong winds from a tropical system brewing in the Atlantic. The potential storm could bring as much as a foot of...
Helene Claims in Florida Already More Than 65,700 – Far More Than Idalia
Oct 2 2024 // The number of property insurance claims in Florida from Hurricane Helene had topped 65,700 by Tuesday, far more than the 25,000 seen in Hurricane Idalia a year ago, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reported. The...
3 Reasons Not to Get Your Adjusters a Florida DHS
Oct 1 2024 // This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. Adjuster licensing is famously terrible. Ask anyone who has ever been an adjuster. Or handled adjuster compliance. Or even regulated adjusters for their state...
Florida’s Heritage Stock Price Drops After ’60 Minutes’ Report on Adjusters
Oct 1 2024 // Just as Florida property insurers face another round of storm claims, CBS News has raised questions about alleged insurer fraud stemming from claims incurred in the last major storm – Hurricane Ian, which hit much of...
Florida Storm Surge Swamps Nuclear Plant, Pro Golfer’s Home, Many More
Sep 30 2024 // Hurricane Helene’s storm surge along Florida’s western edges is being called the most devastating since 1921, responsible for destroying or heavily damaging hundreds of homes and businesses in the area. One of...
Florida Suspends Doctor’s License After Fatal Surgery That Removed Wrong Organ
Sep 30 2024 // A Florida surgeon’s license was suspended last week after he reportedly removed the wrong organ from a patient, leading to the man’s death. Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, working at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast...
Tropical Storm Helene Lashes Florida With Powerful Winds, Rain
Sep 27 2024 // Hurricane Helene barreled into the western coast of Florida with dangerous winds, knocking out power for more than a million customers and threatening to unleash deadly flooding across several states. Helene made landfall...
GEICO Can’t Sue or Void Invoices from Auto Glass Shops, Florida Supreme Court Says
Sep 26 2024 // In the long war between auto insurers and windshield repair shops, the Florida Supreme Court this week sided with glass companies, leaving GEICO with little choice but to ask lawmakers to change the law if it feels repair...
Should Citizens Do More to Assist With Coming Flood Claims in Florida? Can it?
Sep 25 2024 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Florida’s largest insurer, has suspended policy binding ahead of predicted Hurricane Helene, and a board member asked if the carrier could do more to help policyholders manage flood...
