Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida’s Workers’ Comp Market Outlook Remains Positive
Feb 11 2013 // The outlook for Florida’s workers’ compensation market continues to be strong as a competitive market offers affordable rates, although costs could be reduced further if the state addressed prescription drug...
The Insurance Mood in Tallahassee
Feb 11 2013 // Lawmakers Have Insurance Concerns But Will They Act in 2013? When you ask experts in Florida to describe the mood of state lawmakers about insurance reforms in 2013 they use words like “disinterested” and...
Florida Court Sides with Bank in Key Mortgage Liability Case
Feb 10 2013 // Florida’s highest court has ruled a homeowner cannot re-open a voluntarily dismissed foreclosure case despite allegations that the bank falsified documents, giving a win to banks in a closely watched ruling that...
Florida Nuclear Plant Being Shuttered Following Insurance Settlement
Feb 7 2013 // The largest U.S. electricity company is permanently closing a Florida nuclear power plant after botched repairs and refunding consumers $835 million from an insurance settlement. Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy said...
Workers’ Compensation Insurer MEMIC Expanding to Florida
Feb 6 2013 // Portland, Maine-based workers’ compensation insurer The MEMIC Group said it will open its first office in Florida in the second quarter of 2013. MEMIC President and CEO John T. Leonard said the company’s plan...
Florida Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Breath Test Software
Feb 6 2013 // The Florida Supreme Court is hearing a request from three drunken driving defendants for access to software for breath testing machines. They believe an analysis of the software would show the machines are inaccurate. The...
Florida Considers Partners for Health Insurance Exchange
Feb 6 2013 // Florida lawmakers heard this week from two organizations that could serve as partners in running an insurance exchange under the federal health overhaul. Florida has missed the deadline to run its own online marketplace...
Confie Seguros Buys New York, Florida Agencies
Feb 5 2013 // Confie Seguros, a national personal lines insurance brokerage network, has acquired two additional agencies: Cannello Agency in Niagara, New York, and Moose Insurance in Oakland, Florida, as part of its strategy to build...
Florida Supreme Court Rules Arbitration Clauses Apply to Fraud Claims
Feb 5 2013 // The Florida Supreme Court says contract clauses requiring arbitration to settle related disputes include fraud claims. The justices unanimously reversed a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal, which had...
Maritime Program Group Appoints Senior Broker in Florida
Feb 4 2013 // Maritime Program Group recently appointed Shari Trefil as a senior broker based in Stuart, Florida. Trefil brings with her 23 years of experience in the insurance industry, most of it in management of retail and wholesale...
Florida Report Cites Citizens’ Outside Vendors, Claims Handling
Feb 4 2013 // Florida regulators have released a report into Citizens Property Insurance Corp., finding that the state-backed company failed to sufficiently negotiate outside vendor contracts and review travel and other expenses, while...
Liz Henderson Joins ASL FL as Property/Casualty Producer
Feb 4 2013 // Clearwater, FL, 02/04/13 – In alignment with the corporate initiative for growth of the company’s presence in Central Florida, Atlantic Specialty Lines of Florida , Inc. has added Liz Henderson, AAI, AIS to...
Federal Bailout of Florida Is Far From a Sure Thing
Feb 1 2013 // As Florida’s 2013 legislative session draws near, state lawmakers once again are preparing to examine reforms to the Sunshine State’s property insurance system. Most notable, of course, are proposals to shrink...
Florida Senate Democrats to Oppose Property Insurance Rate Hikes
Jan 31 2013 // With Florida lawmakers expected to consider formal changes to the state’s property insurance market next week, state Democrats are signaling that they will likely oppose any measure that results in higher...
Florida Senate to Unveil Property Insurance Reforms
Jan 31 2013 // Florida lawmakers are planning next week to release a draft version of a property insurance reform bill. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee has taken the lead on property insurance reform this year and so far has...
Public Adjuster Firm Upset with Florida Blogger’s Questioning of Name
Jan 30 2013 // A public adjusting firm is threatening to sue a Florida blogger who claims the adjusting firm is using a name that makes it sound like it is a government agency in soliciting business from homeowners insured by the...
Florida Marks I-75 Crash Anniversary; Tragedy Triggers Safety Measures, Lawsuits
Jan 29 2013 // The pre-dawn traffic moved fast on Interstate 75 through Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park outside Gainesville. The highway had been closed for hours after thick fog combined with smoke from a nearby wildfire reduced...
Bowers Joins Florida’s Bass Underwriters as Senior VP Personal Lines
Jan 29 2013 // Plantation, Florida-based wholesale insurance broker Bass Underwriters hired Bruce E. Bowers as senior vice president for personal lines. Bowers will be responsible for new product development and the launching of personal...
Florida Too Slow with Obamacare Regulations, Say Democrats
Jan 28 2013 // Florida Democrats expressed frustration with state insurance regulators Friday, accusing them of dragging their feet on drafting policies to comply with the new federal health overhaul. For nearly two years after the...
Citizens’ Travel Expenses Excessive, Audit Finds
Jan 28 2013 // A review by Florida’s chief inspector general contends that employees at the state-created Citizens Property Insurance racked up excessive travel expenses over an eight-month period. Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered a...
