Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Governor to Sign AOB Reform Bill; Citizens Plans Rate Review
Apr 25 2019 // Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signaled his support of a property insurance reform bill passed by the Florida Senate Wednesday, saying in a statement Wednesday he will sign the legislation that the insurance industry...
Brightway Insurance Opens New Agencies in Florida, Tennessee
Apr 25 2019 // Brightway Insurance opened new stores in Florida and Tennessee on April 15. The new franchise owners include: Steve Moser Steve Moser who opened Brightway, The Steve Moser Agency of Belle Meade in Nashville, Tennessee....
Update: Florida Legislature Passes Industry-Backed AOB Reform Bill
Apr 24 2019 // After seven years of failed attempts, Florida legislators have passed property insurance reform to address the abuse of a policyholder benefit known as assignment of benefits (AOB). The insurance industry and consumers...
Customers of Florida Spa in Kraft Case File Class Action Suit Against Police
Apr 24 2019 // Nearly three dozen men and women have filed a federal class-action lawsuit accusing Florida authorities of unlawfully videotaping them as they received legal massages at a parlor where New England Patriots owner Robert...
Florida Contractor Accused of $40K AOB Insurance Fraud Scheme
Apr 23 2019 // A restoration contracting company owner was arrested this month in Florida for allegedly stealing more than $40,000 from consumers who assigned their insurance benefits to him through assignment of benefits (AOB)...
Strong Storms Cause Tornadoes, Deaths Across Southeast
Apr 23 2019 // Strong storms roared across the Southeast last week, killing at least two in Mississippi and a woman in Alabama while leaving more than 100,000 people without power across Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. A girl...
NOAA Upgrades Hurricane Michael to Category 5
Apr 22 2019 // Hurricane Michael, which devastated a swath of the Florida Panhandle last fall, has been upgraded to a Category 5 storm, only the fourth to make recorded landfall in the United States and the first since 1992. The...
AssuredPartners Acquires Premier Insurance Corp. of Florida
Apr 22 2019 // AssuredPartners, Inc. is has acquired Premier Insurance Corporation, Inc. of Cape Coral, Fla. Premier specializes in property and casualty insurance, workers compensation, employee benefits, and life insurance. Premier and...
Sells Appointed Chief Information Officer for SUNZ Holdings of Florida
Apr 18 2019 // SUNZ Holdings, LLC, based in Bradenton, Fla., has appointed John Sells to the position of chief information officer. John Sells Sells will be in charge of IT initiatives and enterprise systems with a focus on digital...
Florida AOB Reform Bill Passes Final Committee, Heads to Full Senate
Apr 18 2019 // A bill the Florida insurance industry says will help reign in assignment of benefits abuse that is plaguing the state and raising insurance costs has passed its final committee in the Florida Senate and is now headed to...
Florida’s Citizens Says $200M in Reinsurance Needed to Protect Personal Lines Surplus
Apr 15 2019 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. plans to purchase approximately $200 million in traditional reinsurance coverage for the 2019 hurricane season to protect its Personal Lines Account (PLA) surplus it says is exposed to...
Closer Look Patrick Stephens
Apr 15 2019 // If Florida’s Stephens Were Not a Broker, He’d Find Another Job in Insurance Being a young insurance broker in Florida is never boring for Patrick Stephens, who started in the industry three years ago....
Assignment of Benefits Reform Moves Forward as Florida House Passes Measure
Apr 12 2019 // Assignment of benefits reform legislation progressed in the Florida legislature yesterday. Lawmakers passed House Bill 7065, one of two key pieces of insurance industry-supported legislation – the other being its...
Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners Acquires Florida’s Lykes Insurance
Apr 11 2019 // Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners (BKS-Partners), an insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Tampa, Fla., has acquired Florida-based, independent firm Lykes Insurance Inc. BKS-Partners currently...
Senate Committee Passes Bill Impacting Florida’s Surplus Lines Insurance Industry
Apr 11 2019 // Senate Bill 538 passed from the Florida Senate’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government on Tuesday, April 9. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg,...
Florida Could Expand Self-Driving Car Law
Apr 10 2019 // Self-driving vehicles could be operated in Florida without a human backup under a bill approved by a House committee last week, which could pave the way for companies like Uber and Lyft to deploy fleets of driverless...
Florida Legislature Considers Reforms to Non-Admitted Insurance Market
Apr 9 2019 // Two bills seeking to change the way Florida surplus lines business is handled are currently working their way through the Florida State Legislature and advocates say the potential laws could bring much needed efficiency to...
Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners Acquires Lykes Insurance of Florida
Apr 9 2019 // Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners (BKS-Partners), an insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Tampa, Fla., has acquired Florida-based, independent firm, Lykes Insurance. The partnership finalized on...
Judge Rejects Lawsuit from Florida Sheriff Fired After High School Shooting
Apr 9 2019 // A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Florida sheriff whom Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended after accusing him of failing to prevent the Parkland school shooting. Broward Circuit Judge David Haimes ruled that...
Miami’s Rising Seas Force ‘Underwater Homeowners’ to Mobilize
Apr 5 2019 // The “Underwater Homeowners Association” sounds like a sad joke about the future of real estate in flood-prone Miami. It’s actually an earnest effort to turn neighbors into climate-change advocates,...
