Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Patriot Growth Insurance Services Acquires Shapiro Insurance Group of Florida
Dec 2 2019 // Patriot Growth Insurance Services, LLC, a national insurance agency, has added Shapiro Insurance Group (SIG) to its platform. The partnership with SIG marks Patriot’s entry into the Florida marketplace and...
Brightway Insurance Franchise Owners Pojero, Jones Open Second Store in Florida
Nov 27 2019 // Veteran Brightway Insurance Franchise Owners David Pojero and David Jones have expanded their business enterprise with a second Brightway store in Central Florida. The business partners opened their first Brightway office...
Florida Investigating Attorney Charged with Lawsuit Fraud
Nov 26 2019 // The Florida Bar has opened an investigation of a New York lawyer who it says may have been practicing in Florida without a license. The Bar’s investigation of Stuart Finkelstein stems from federal charges this week...
E-Cigarette Maker Juul Pulled Into Tobacco Product Liability Case
Nov 26 2019 // A Florida state court judge ordered the co-founder of the e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. to answer questions under oath in a case involving a woman suing the cigarette-maker Philip Morris USA. While Juul has challenged...
Authorities Say Amtrak Train Hits Vehicle in Florida, Three Dead
Nov 25 2019 // Authorities say three people in Florida were killed in a vehicle that collided with an Amtrak passenger train, but no passengers aboard the train were hurt. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue told news outlets the crash...
Florida Woman Found Guilty of Hurricane Irma Relief Fraud
Nov 25 2019 // A Florida woman has been convicted of fraudulently obtaining Hurricane Irma disaster relief money. Court records show that 37-year-old Karen Latrice Houston was convicted by a jury in Tampa federal court this week of three...
Feds Say Florida Officials Bilked FEMA Out of Hurricane Money
Nov 22 2019 // Two former officials of a Florida city are charged with conspiring with two businesses to bilk the federal government out of $5 million in Hurricane Michael cleanup money, the U.S. attorney’s office announced...
Statewide Overall Decrease of 7.5% Approved for Florida Workers’ Comp Rates
Nov 21 2019 // Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has issued a final order granting approval to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for a statewide overall decrease of 7.5% for Florida workers’...
Florida Officials Unveil Website to Monitor Water Quality
Nov 20 2019 // Florida officials are rolling out a new online dashboard that allows the public to get a snapshot of water quality in the state’s major lakes and waterways. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the new website,...
Citizens CEO Notes Impact of AOB Reforms as New Rates to Take Effect in Florida
Nov 20 2019 // The head of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. says it is already seeing a difference in assignment of benefits (AOB) litigation since reforms passed by the Florida Legislature took effect in July. Meanwhile, many Citizens...
Florida’s New Consumer Advocate Tackles Open Hurricane Michael Claims
Nov 19 2019 // Florida’s new Insurance Consumer Advocate Tasha Carter has been busy since taking office August 1. With more than 12,000 Hurricane Michael claims still open, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation,...
Two Large Yachts Destroyed in Predawn Fire at Florida Marina
Nov 18 2019 // Authorities say a huge fire has destroyed two large yachts in South Florida, sending flames skyward and leaving millions of dollars in losses. No injuries were reported in Saturday’s pre-dawn fire. Fort Lauderdale...
Florida Expands Access to Insurtech Services and Devices
Nov 18 2019 // On June 28, 2019, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 301 into law and, in doing so, loosened regulatory restrictions and allowed insurers and their agents to utilize innovative technologies to reduce perils to...
Elementary School Bus Crash in Florida Injures 6 Students
Nov 13 2019 // Fire rescue officials say a half dozen elementary school students in Florida suffered minor injuries when the school bus they were in was involved in a crash with a car. Orange County Fire Rescue tweeted Monday morning...
Farmers Hit by Hurricanes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia to Get $800M in Federal Aid
Nov 12 2019 // The federal government announced $800 million in aid Friday to farmers in three southern states that were devastated by last year’s hurricanes. Nearly half that money will go to Florida, where timber farmers suffered...
Amoruso Joins Renaissance Alliance Insurance Services in Florida
Nov 8 2019 // Renaissance Alliance Insurance Services, a membership alliance for independent insurance agencies, has hired Anthony Amoruso as senior agency recruitment specialist in Florida. Oscar L. Miniet, regional executive vice...
Sinkhole Opens Under Florida Condo Building
Nov 4 2019 // Authorities say 13 people were evacuated after a possible sinkhole opened outside a condominium complex in central Florida. An advisory from Alert Seminole County says 16 units at Royal Arms Condominiums were affected by...
Regulator Orders Decrease to Proposed Fla. Workers’ Comp Rates
Nov 4 2019 // Florida businesses can expect an even greater decrease in workers’ compensation insurance next year, thanks to an order by the state regulator for a further decrease to the recent rate filing proposed by the National...
Scammers Swindle Florida City Out of Nearly $750K With Fraudulent Invoice
Nov 1 2019 // Police say scammers posing as a local construction company doing business with a north Florida city got an employee to change information that sent $742,376 to a fraudulent bank account. The Ocala Star-Banner reports a...
States Eye Private Flood Insurance Model Law Industry Thinks Is Unnecessary
Oct 31 2019 // An organization of state lawmakers is moving ahead toward adoption of a “model law” designed to encourage the sale of private flood insurance, even though insurers don’t think any new state laws are...
