Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Best: Reinsurance Pricing, Pandemic Add to Woes for Florida Property Insurers
Jul 9 2020 // The numerous issues in Florida’s property insurance market, including higher reinsurance pricing and social inflation, continue to challenge the financial strength of Florida personal property writers and impact...
Patriot Growth Insurance Services Adds 2 Florida Agencies
Jul 9 2020 // Patriot Growth Insurance Services, LLC, a nationwide insurance agency, has added two Florida-based independent agencies, Arison Insurance Services, and Ference Insurance (FIA), to the Patriot platform. Arison and FIA each...
Miami Halts Indoor Dining as Florida Hospitals Approach Capacity
Jul 8 2020 // Hospitals rapidly approached capacity across the Sunbelt, and the Miami area closed indoor dining at restaurants and gyms again because of the surging coronavirus Monday, as the U.S. emerged from a Fourth of July weekend...
Florida Reaches Grim Coronavirus Milestone
Jul 6 2020 // Florida health officials say the state has reached a grim milestone: more than 200,000 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the start of the outbreak. State statistics released Sunday show an...
Court Refuses to Open ‘Loophole’ for Cruise Line Lawsuits
Jul 6 2020 // A plaintiff’s attorney cannot avoid a showdown with a cruise line at the federal courthouse in Miami simply by pleading the case as an action that does not require the court’s jurisdiction under admiralty law,...
Business Moves
Jul 6 2020 // East High Street Insurance Partners, Gates-Cole Associates Traverse City, Michigan-based High Street Insurance Partners has acquired Gates-Cole Associates in New Hartford, New York. Financial details of the transaction...
Florida’s Citizens Accuses Embattled Law Firm, Others of Sham Lawsuits, Racketeering
Jul 6 2020 // Florida’s state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has joined a chorus of insurance companies accusing the Strems Law Firm of lawsuit abuse. Citizens says it has lost millions of dollars due to an alleged scheme...
Congressional Action Plan on Climate Change Applauded by Zurich, IBHS
Jul 2 2020 // A Congressional action plan for a clean energy economy is garnering a bit of praise from a few important names in the insurance industry. The House of Representatives in 2019 established the House Select Committee on the...
New Florida Laws Address Climate Issues, Require Sea Level Study for Construction
Jul 2 2020 // Republican Florida Ron DeSantis signed a slew of environmental bills in less than 24 hours that address issues ranging from sea level rise to blue-green algae blooms – and even given the state authority to use drones...
Insurity Acquires Epic-Premier Insurance Solutions of Florida
Jul 1 2020 // Insurity, Inc., a provider of cloud-based core systems and data analytics for insurers, brokers, and MGAs, has completed the acquisition of Florida-based Epic-Premier Insurance Solutions, Inc. Epic-Premier offers software...
Renaissance Alliance Insurance Services Adds 6 Agency Members in Florida
Jun 30 2020 // Renaissance Alliance Insurance Services, a membership alliance for independent insurance agencies, has added six independent insurance agencies to its Florida network. The new members include: AFG Insurance (American...
Florida Restaurant Fined More Than $314K for Stealing Tips, Wages
Jun 30 2020 // Federal officials say a Florida restaurant chain with six locations has been fined more than $314,500 for taking employee tips and wages. The U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday that the Vietnamese chain Pho 79...
As Florida Virus Cases Spike, Officials Shut Down Bars
Jun 29 2020 // The state of Florida set on Saturday another record in daily confirmed coronavirus cases. Florida health officials reported more than 9,500 new COVID-19 cases, surpassing the previous day’s total by more than 600...
Actors Union Asks Disney to Delay Reopening Florida Parks
Jun 26 2020 // A day after Disney said it would delay reopening its California theme parks, the union representing actors at Walt Disney World said Thursday that the company should also postpone welcoming back guests at its Florida parks...
Florida Counties to Crack Down on Businesses as Virus Cases Surge
Jun 25 2020 // This story has been updated from an earlier version: Floridians traveling to the New York City area will be required to quarantine as Florida’s new confirmed coronavirus cases skyrocketed by 5,500 Wednesday, a 25%...
United Insurance Holdings of Florida Appoints Peed as Chairman, CEO
Jun 25 2020 // The Board of Directors of United Insurance Holdings Corp., a property and casualty insurance holding company based in Florida, has appointed R. Daniel Peed as chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer,...
Florida Farmers Offer Reward After Watermelon Crop is Destroyed
Jun 24 2020 // A family of farmers in North Florida is seeking answers after a field of watermelons was sprayed with damaging chemicals. Hugh Martin told the Gainesville Sun his family is offering a $10,000 reward for information that...
The Plexus Groupe Acquires Florida’s Community Insurance Group
Jun 24 2020 // The Plexus Groupe, a privately held broker, has acquired Community Insurance Group (CIG) of Brandon, Fla. This is the first entrance into the Florida market for Plexus, which has locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los...
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Florida’s Barrett, Liner & Buss
Jun 24 2020 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Ocala, Fla.-based Barrett, Liner & Buss LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1981, Barrett, Liner & Buss offers a range of employee benefit...
North Carolina Electric Distributor Cited for Safety Hazards at Florida Worksite
Jun 23 2020 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Florida Progress LLC, operating as Duke Energy Florida LLC, for exposing employees to excavation hazards at a Zephyrhills,...
