Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Painkiller Prescribing Varies By State, Highest in South; Florida Reverses Trend: CDC
Jul 2 2014 // Health care providers in some states prescribe far more painkillers than those in other states, according to a new government report. Health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers in 2012 –...
Florida Approves Southern Oak Take-Out of 10,000 Policies from Citizens
Jul 2 2014 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) said it has approved the removal of up to 10,000 multi-peril personal residential policies from the state-backed property insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp. by...
Forecast Update: North Carolina on Watch for Hurricane Arthur
Jul 2 2014 // Tropical Storm Arthur is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane within two days and threaten North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where tourists are visiting for the Fourth of July holiday, while also adding to heavy rain...
Tropical Depression Could Grow Into North Carolina Hurricane Arthur
Jul 1 2014 // A tropical depression off the coast of Florida is forecast to grow into Hurricane Arthur and strike North Carolina’s Outer Banks during the Fourth of July holiday. The storm was stationary 95 miles (153 kilometers)...
AmTrust to Acquire Florida Workers’ Comp Insurer OptaComp
Jun 30 2014 // AmTrust Financial Services Inc. announced that it has agreed to purchase Comp Options Insurance Co. Inc., a Jacksonville, Florida-based workers’ compensation insurer and a subsidiary of Blue Cross & Blue Shield...
Florida Raises Car Seat Requirement Age
Jun 27 2014 // Parents in Florida will have to use a car seat for children up to 5 years old under a new law approved by Gov. Rick Scott. Scott signed a bill (HB 225) that increases Florida’s car seat requirement from 4 years old...
Florida Agencies Acentria and Gateway Announce Intent to Merge
Jun 26 2014 // Two Florida independent insurance agencies — Acentria, Inc. and Gateway Insurance Agency, L.C. — announced they are merging. Gateway, which has serving Dade, Broward and West Palm Beach communities since 1952, is...
3 More Arrests, 1 Conviction in Florida PIP Fraud Cases
Jun 26 2014 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced the arrests of three individuals in Fort Lauderdale for their alleged involvement in a staged accident that resulted in fraudulent personal injury protection (PIP)...
Florida’s Citizens Votes to Lower Rates Next Year
Jun 26 2014 // The Board of Governors for Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. approved on Wednesday a 2015 rate package that reflects an overall average 2.9 percent statewide decrease for personal residential policyholders...
Florida’s Miami-Dade County Continues to Have Problems With Ride-for-Hire
Jun 25 2014 // Florida’s Miami-Dade County continues to have problems with the ride-for-hire industry and is looking to other cities for examples of how to legislate the growing businesses. The Miami Herald reports the county has...
Some Florida Citizens Customers May See Lower Rates Next Year
Jun 25 2014 // Florida’s largest property insurer may be dropping its rates next year. Citizens Property Insurance is considering rate proposals for 2015 that would lower rates by about 3.2 percent for most homeowners. The...
Florida’s HCI Moves to Acquire Competitor Prepared Insurance
Jun 24 2014 // The parent company of one of Florida’s largest home insurers has entered into a non-binding deal to purchase another state-based insurer in a move that could affect 21,500 state policyholders. HCI Group Inc....
Broad Insurance Group Buys Florida’s Hartselle Agency
Jun 23 2014 // Broad Insurance Group (BIG) said it has acquired Art Hartselle Agency Inc., a Seminole, Fla. based commercial and personal lines property/casualty insurance agency. The company said that Robert Southard, a Florida native...
No New Rights in Florida’s Homeowners’ Bill of Rights
Jun 23 2014 // Florida’s passage of a homeowners’ claims bill of rights left few satisfied after lawmakers largely codified current law while avoiding controversial issues such as the practice of policyholders assigning their...
InVEST Honors Florida’s Zupkoff As Teacher of Year
Jun 20 2014 // Adam W. Zupkoff, who teaches at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla., is the 2014 InVEST Teacher of the Year. InVEST is an industry-supported program that provides students with knowledge of the basics of insurance...
JLT Capital Markets Announces Florida Cat Bond Placement
Jun 20 2014 // Jardine Lloyd Thompson Capital Markets (JLTCM) Inc., a part of JLT Towers Re, announced its second Market Re private placement cat bond (Market Re 2014 -2), which closed at $31.825 million. JLT said the “new bond...
Model Promises to Help Growers Mitigate Costly Droughts
Jun 19 2014 // Researchers at the University of Florida say they have created a model that may help growers plant at optimal times and avoid crop-destroying drought, which can cost millions of dollars in a given year. Put simply, if...
Florida ‘Hurricane Tax’ Sent to Early Retirement
Jun 19 2014 // A1.3 percent surcharge on most property/casualty policies in Florida to help pay for past hurricane claims is coming to an end earlier than originally planned. The Florida Cabinet voted this week to end the assessment on...
Florida Private Flood Bill Now Law But Market May Take a While to Develop
Jun 17 2014 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed legislation designed to encourage private insurers to offer flood insurance, but the industry is tamping down expectations that it will result in a viable market in the near future. The...
Cat Bond Buyers Listening to Storm Forecasters, Not Buffett
Jun 16 2014 // Bond buyers are betting more than ever on the mercy of Mother Nature as they seek to boost yields being suppressed by central banks. Demand for notes linked to insurance against hurricanes and other natural disasters is...
