Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida-Based Advanced E&S Group Opens Dallas Office
Aug 28 2015 // Advanced E&S Group, a Florida-based managing general agency, has hired April Moeser, branch manager, and Lisa Sherman, underwriting, to facilitate the opening of the firm’s new branch office operations in Dallas,...
Deadly Erika May Weaken Before Reaching Florida on Monday
Aug 28 2015 // Deadly Tropical Storm Erika may weaken as it passes over the mountains of the Dominican Republic Friday before continuing on a path that may bring it to Florida on Monday. Erika was 90 miles (144 kilometers) east-southeast...
Florida Prepares for Possible Hurricane Erika on Monday
Aug 27 2015 // Florida advised residents and tourists to check disaster kits and escape plans as chances rise the state will face its first hurricane strike in 10 years. Tropical Storm Erika, which has triggered storm watches and...
Unmanned Work Zone Trucks Promise Road Safety, Savings
Aug 27 2015 // Roving construction crews — the kind you see blacktopping a road, painting lines, inspecting a bridge or installing a traffic signal — are often protected from oncoming traffic by a specialized truck outfitted with a...
Florida Governor Orders Random Audits of 100-Plus Hospitals
Aug 27 2015 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott is ordering state health officials to audit more than 100 hospitals as part of his ongoing battle with hospitals, which he says are driving up Medicaid costs. The state had asked hospitals and...
Citizens: Water Losses the Reason for Rate Increases in South Florida
Aug 26 2015 // In a nearly three-hour rate hearing on August 25, representatives from Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. delved into and defended their recent rate filing, which included significant increases in many...
Tropical Storm Erika Could Reach Florida by Monday
Aug 26 2015 // A “Hurricane Hunter” airplane has found that Tropical Storm Erika strengthened slightly as it approached the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea, where warnings and watches have been posted, the U.S. National...
Two-Year Florida Insurance Fraud Investigation Leads to Multiple Arrests
Aug 26 2015 // The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) has made multiple arrests related to a large-scale personal injury protection (PIP) fraud scheme spanning across Central Florida. Five...
Florida’s West Coast Facing Sinkhole Risk After Month of Wet Weather
Aug 26 2015 // The onslaught of rain that drenched parts of Florida over the past month unleashed widespread flooding that left the ground soppy and saturated. Geologists say that under all the water weight, another problem could be...
Florida Foreclosure Filings Spiked in July
Aug 25 2015 // After almost a year of month-to-month declines, new foreclosure starts in Florida rose in July. The research firm Realty Trac reported last week that foreclosure starts increased 16 percent in July from the previous...
Fitch: Downward Pricing Pressures in Reinsurance Market Begin to Slow
Aug 25 2015 // The reinsurance market showed signs of decelerating rate declines in its most recent June/July 2015 renewals, indicating that pricing could be approaching a new equilibrium, says Fitch Ratings in a new global sector...
GEICO Promotes Florida-Based Rogers to Senior Vice President
Aug 25 2015 // George Rogers has been promoted to senior vice president at GEICO. Rogers’ new responsibilities include oversight for GEICO’s southeast and Midwest operations in addition to his current duties as vice president...
NCCI Proposes Decrease to Florida Workers’ Comp Rates
Aug 21 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said today that it has received the 2016 Florida workers’ compensation rate filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which proposes a statewide...
8 Ways Katrina Changed Commercial Property Insurance
Aug 21 2015 // Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans 10 years ago, is responsible for a number of changes in the commercial property insurance market. According to Rick Miller, U.S. property practice leader at Aon Risk...
New Hole Opens Up at Site of Fatal 2013 Florida Sinkhole
Aug 20 2015 // Sometime after the sun came up Wednesday, a woman walking her dog past a fenced-off area in a sleepy suburban neighborhood near Tampa, Florida, heard a loud rumble. She quickly dialed 911. The earth had opened, again. By...
Florida’s Brightway Insurance Hires Azar as VP of Customer Experience
Aug 20 2015 // Kristine Azar The Jacksonville, Florida-based Brightway Insurance hired Kristine Azar as vice president of customer experience. Azar is responsible for Brightway’s customer experience strategies and execution through...
USG Unit Acquires Certain Program Renewal Rights From US Assure in Florida
Aug 20 2015 // Allied American Underwriters, a subsidiary of USG Insurance Services Inc., announced that it acquired the renewal rights on several books of business from Jacksonville, Florida-based US Assure. The terms of the acquisition...
Florida Insurance Chief Calls on NFIP to Hand Over Its Data
Aug 20 2015 // In his ongoing efforts to foster a competitive private flood insurance market in Florida, state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, recently requested help from the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation to obtain...
Florida Man Gets 6 Years for Staging Car Crashes, Filing False Claims
Aug 19 2015 // A 50-year-old Jacksonville, Florida, man has been sentenced to six years in prison for staging car crashes. The Florida Attorney’s Office announced Monday that Guillermo de la Vega pleaded guilty earlier this month...
Study: In 1st Year, 2 Florida Laws Reduced Amount of Opioids Prescribed
Aug 19 2015 // Two Florida laws, enacted to fight prescription drug abuse and misuse in that state, led to a small but significant decrease in the amount of opioids prescribed the first year the laws were in place, a new study...
