Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
University of Florida Lab Tests Fluid-Filled Helmet As Guard Against Injuries
Jan 16 2014 // In a ground floor lab of the New Engineering Building at the University of Florida, radiologist Keith Peters and mechanical engineer Ghatu Subhash are building the football helmet of the future. They’ve spent several...
Turk Joins Florida’s Century Risk Advisors as VP, Private Client Division
Jan 14 2014 // Boca Raton, Florida-based Century Risk Advisors (CRA), has hired insurance industry veteran Katherine Turk as vice president/private client manager of the company’s Private Client Division. Turk brings 35 years of...
BB&T-Oswald Trippe in Florida Names Bolduc Assistant Agency Manager
Jan 14 2014 // Shelley Bolduc has been appointed assistant agency manager for commercial lines at BB&T-Oswald Trippe and Co. in Fort Myers, Florida. With six years of industry experience, Bolduc will manage the daily supervision of...
Florida Panel Takes First Step To Creating Private Flood Market
Jan 13 2014 // With thousands of Florida residents facing dramatic increases in their flood insurance premiums, state lawmakers are preparing the groundwork for a private market option to premiums charged by the federal flood insurance...
Florida Has High Rate of ‘Underwater’ Properties: RealtyTrac
Jan 10 2014 // A new report says Florida has the nation’s second-highest rates of residential properties that were deeply underwater last month. The research firm RealtyTrac said that just over a third of Florida’s...
Florida ‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison
Jan 9 2014 // A South Florida doctor has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for his role in a major pill mill operation that illegally dispensed oxycodone and other painkillers. Court documents show that...
Liberty Mutual Selling Workers’ Comp Unit Summit Southeast to American Financial
Jan 9 2014 // Liberty Mutual Insurance said it has agreed to sell Summit Holdings Southeast Inc. and its related companies to American Financial Group (AFG) in an all-cash transaction valued at $250 million. Based in Lakeland, Florida,...
Widow Drops $100M Wrongful Death Suit Against Florida Hotel Magnate
Jan 8 2014 // A $100 million lawsuit filed against a Florida billionaire over a 2012 helicopter crash in the Bahamas that killed a prominent tax attorney has been withdrawn. The widow of attorney Lance Valdez filed the wrongful death...
U.S. Crops Escaping Cold Snap with Little Damage
Jan 8 2014 // U.S. crops are escaping record- setting cold weather with little damage, while the arctic blast drove cattle prices to a record as animals struggle to gain weight. The coldest spots in Florida citrus groves were near...
Florida Oranges Dodge Bullet, Escape Damage From Freezing Temperatures
Jan 7 2014 // Orange groves in Florida, the world’s biggest grower after Brazil, escaped cold weather damage overnight as frigid air set records across the Midwest. The coldest spots in Florida citrus groves were near freezing,...
Florida CFO Atwater Seeks University Job
Jan 6 2014 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater is seeking the presidency of Florida Atlantic University. Atwater’s decision to seek the job likely opens a statewide Cabinet post for the 2014 elections. Atwater had been...
Florida Joins States Allowing Electronic Proof of Auto Insurance
Jan 3 2014 // Florida is joining the ranks of 29 other states and allow drivers to show law enforcement officers their proof of automobile insurance through their cell phone and other electronic means. In December, Gov. Rick Scott and...
Florida’s Towne Center Agency Joins Brightway
Jan 2 2014 // Brightway Insurance agency owner Ken Toney, whose retail store is located in Sanford, Fla., has acquired the book of business of Lake Mary, Fla.-based Towne Center Insurance Agency. Towne Center’s customers join the...
USG Insurance Services Appoints Nehls as Producer/Broker in Florida
Dec 31 2013 // Katie Nehls USG Insurance Services Inc., a Tampa, Fla.-based national wholesaler and managing general agent, appointed Katie Nehls as producer/broker. She is based in Tampa. Nehls most recently held the position of...
Florida Flood Policy to be Offered in Six Additional States
Dec 30 2013 // A Florida insurance agency that stepped forward last month to offer a private market stand-alone flood coverage policy in Florida has started marketing the policy in six other states. The Gainesville, Fla.-based Flood...
Florida County Gives $100 Rewards for Reporting DUIs
Dec 27 2013 // A program in Florida’s Palm Beach County provides rewards of $100 to people who report drunk drivers to local police. The Safety Council of Palm Beach County said the Mobile Eyes program helps law enforcement...
Report Casts Light on High Cost of Homeowners Insurance in Florida
Dec 19 2013 // Floridians are paying the highest homeowner insurance rates in the nation even though the state has not been hit by a hurricane in nearly a decade. A national report shows the average premium for most Florida homeowners is...
Florida Lawmakers Unveil Plan to Encourage Private Market for Flood Insurance
Dec 19 2013 // With the chances of a federal solution to rising flood insurance rates waning by the day, Florida lawmakers are pressing forward with a bill to create a private market solution to the problem. Florida State Senator Jeff...
NICB: Florida Posts 23% Spike in Questionable Insurance Claims
Dec 19 2013 // Florida’s questionable claims rose 23 percent from 2010 to 2012, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s (NICB) 2010-2012 Florida questionable claims referral reason analysis. Questionable claims...
Florida Tornado Damage Estimated at $5 Million
Dec 17 2013 // Seven homes were destroyed and more than 150 damaged by the tornado that struck a central Florida neighborhood Saturday, city officials said. The National Weather Service said the tornado had winds as high as 110 miles per...
