Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
What Jeff Atwater Gets Wrong, and Right, About Florida Reinsurance
Aug 8 2013 // Yesterday, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater penned a letter to Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty inquiring why property insurance rates continue to rise even as the cost of reinsurance falls. Atwater...
Wilcox Named CFO at Universal Insurance Holdings
Aug 8 2013 // Florida-based Universal Insurance Holdings Inc. has elected Frank Wilcox, formerly vice president of finance, as the company’s chief financial officer and principal accounting officer effective October 1,...
Army Corps Watching Water Levels at Florida’s Lake Okeechobee
Aug 8 2013 // Water levels in Lake Okeechobee have risen to nearly 16 feet. The rising water levels in the shallow lake have prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to fully open locks around the lake to release water and protect the aging...
Florida Sen. Fasano, Veteran on Insurance Legislation, Leaving for Tax Job
Aug 7 2013 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott is appointing maverick legislator Mike Fasano to the position of Pasco County tax collector. The governor’s office said that Scott had appointed Fasano, R-New Port Richey, to the job on...
Confie Seguros Acquires Florida’s Economy Insurance Mart
Aug 5 2013 // Growing personal lines agency Confie Seguros has acquired Economy Insurance Mart of Spring Hill, Fla., which sells auto, home and small commercial insurance. Economy Insurance Agency was founded in 1993 and is a privately...
Yamaha WaveRunner Leads in Boat Thefts
Aug 5 2013 // Yamaha Motor Co.’s WaveRunner was the most sought-after watercraft among U.S. thieves in 2012 as Florida had the highest number of stolen boats, an insurance- industry group said. A total of 538 WaveRunners were...
Florida Supreme Court Rules Replacement Cost Includes Contractor’s Profit
Aug 5 2013 // Florida’s high court has ruled that insurers under a 2008 law must pay a contractor’s overhead and profit as part of the expense of repairing a homeowner’s property despite repairs not having been...
Florida, Georgia Say Individual Insurance Rates to Spike Under Obamacare
Jul 31 2013 // Florida and Georgia, two states where politicians oppose U.S. President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, said this week that insurance rates for individuals would rise sharply in 2014 under the reform. The remarks are...
High Water Levels at Florida’s Lake Okeechobee
Jul 29 2013 // The Army Corps of Engineers has activated its emergency operations center in response to high water levels at Lake Okeechobee. The corps’ emergency operations center in Jacksonville was activated ast Friday....
Florida Seeks Federal Disaster Aid Following Panhandle Floods
Jul 26 2013 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott is asking that the federal government declare a disaster due to floods that caused extensive damage in the Panhandle. The state estimates there was $29 million worth of damage caused by the heavy...
New Safety Recommendations for School Buses Weighed
Jul 26 2013 // Federal accident investigators are considering new safety recommendations for school buses, large trucks and commercial drivers based on two similar fatal crashes in New Jersey and Florida last year. The National...
Johnson Joins Florida’s Ted Todd Agency
Jul 25 2013 // Trevor Johnson has joined the Ted Todd Insurance Agency’s senior management team as its sales manager. He will oversee sales operations in all seven of the Allstate ageny’s offices located in Bonita Springs,...
Safety Board Recommends ‘Talking Vehicles’ Technology in New Models
Jul 25 2013 // The government should set performance standards for new safety technology that allows cars and trucks to talk to each other and then require the technology be installed in all new vehicles, a federal accident investigation...
Florida Woman Sues Airline Over Rough Landing
Jul 25 2013 // A Tampa-area woman has sued US Airways, saying she was injured after a rough landing at Tampa International Airport. Nancy Linker, who is 48, said in the lawsuit that she was hospitalized after the front tires of US...
Florida Supreme Court Rules Replacement Cost Includes Contractor’s Profit
Jul 24 2013 // Florida’s high court has ruled that insurers under a 2008 law must pay a contractor’s overhead and profit as part of the expense of repairing a homeowner’s property despite the fact the repairs may not...
Florida Auto Policy Covers Modified Golf Cart: Court
Jul 22 2013 // A Florida appeals court has ruled that an automobile insurer must cover a Florida man for injuries from a collision in a golf cart that had been modified to exceed a speed of 20 miles per hour. The ruling overturned a...
Florida’s Citizens Seeks Rate Hike, Sinkhole Increase Cap
Jul 22 2013 // Florida’s state-backed property insurer requested a statewide average 6.6 percent increase in homeowners’ rates along with a cap on sinkhole rate increases in three high-risk counties at between 20 percent and...
Florida Agents Challenged to Profit on Homeowners Business: FAIA
Jul 22 2013 // Many Florida independent insurance agencies are challenged to make money on the initial placement of the homeowners insurance policies. That’s a finding from The Agent Compensation Study commissioned by the Florida...
Florida Court Rules on Requiring Examinations Under Oath
Jul 22 2013 // The Florida Supreme Court ruled that prior to a 2012 state law, auto insurer Geico didn’t have the right to force a policyholder to answer questions under oath before paying a personal injury protection (PIP)...
Florida Among States Allowing Electronic Proof of Insurance
Jul 22 2013 // Florida recently joined a growing list of states that allow electronic proof of insurance via smartphones for motorists at traffic stops. Among Southeast states, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky now...
