Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Officials Fret Over Home Insurance Assessments
Jul 4 2011 // Two weeks into a new hurricane season, Florida officials are continuing to express their concerns over possible policyholder assessments by Citizens Property Insurance despite the relative financial strength of the...
People
Jul 4 2011 // Brennan J. Paris has been named the new executive vice president of the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) of Tennessee. He is the sixth executive leader in the history of the association. Prior to joining PIA, Paris...
Florida, Mississippi, Hawaii in Surplus Lines Pact
Jul 4 2011 // Florida, Mississippi and Hawaii have entered into an agreement that will allow them to keep millions of dollars in taxes on surplus lines insurance policies. The agreement was the result of federal legislation – the...
Florida’s Homeowners Choice Names Patel as New CEO
Jul 1 2011 // Homeowners Choice, a Florida-based provider of homeowners’ insurance, has named a familiar executive to be its new chief executive officer. The insurers’ board of directors announced that Paresh Patel, board...
Analysis: Reinsurers at Risk If Hurricane Season Is Big
Jul 1 2011 // A major hurricane landfall in Florida could strain leading global reinsurers that have already been buffeted by brutal tornadoes in the United States and earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand. The biggest reinsurers,...
Lockton Expands Florida Office with Addition of Rivas
Jun 30 2011 // Insurance broker Lockton Companies is expanding its business in Florida with the addition of Ed Rivas. Prior to joining Lockton, Rivas spent 11 years as the director of Human Resources and Safety for Arch Aluminum and...
Florida Court Hears Challenge to Governor’s Freeze of Regulations
Jun 30 2011 // The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a challenge to Gov. Rick Scott’s suspension of state rulemaking. The case heard Wednesday was filed on behalf of Rosalie Whiley, who is blind. She said the...
Wholesaler S.H. Smith Opens New Florida Office; Appoints Colosimo
Jun 30 2011 // S.H. Smith & Co. has announced it is opening its newest satellite office in Florida. The new office is located in Lake Worth and will be headed up by Albert J. Colosimo, Jr., who has recently been named as a senior...
Florida Agency Employees Charged with Premium Fraud
Jun 29 2011 // Three insurance agency employees have been arrested in Florida for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars in auto premiums. Bella Jenkins, Torrance Blake and David Bell, who were employees of the Temple Terrace-based...
Florida Supreme Court Upholds $2 Million Malpractice Verdict
Jun 29 2011 // The Florida Supreme Court has rejected a public hospital’s appeal of a $2 million malpractice verdict in the death of an infant. Justice Jorge Labarga wrote in the unanimous opinion that the Public Health Trust of...
Allstate Seeks Double-Digit Home Insurance Hikes in Florida
Jun 28 2011 // Two subsidiaries of Allstate Insurance Company Florida are seeking homeowners rate increases worth more than $90 million. Castle Key Indemnity Co. is seeking a 36 percent statewide average rate increase and Castle Key...
Esurance, Security First to Sell Homeowners Insurance in Florida
Jun 28 2011 // Esurance, the online car insurance company, said that it is partnering with Security First Insurance Co. as an underwriter to offer homeowners insurance in Florida. The move comes a little more than a month after Allstate...
Broker Citadel Opens Florida Office; Names Webb Southeast Director
Jun 24 2011 // Utah-based Citadel Insurance Services, a specialty program broker, has expanded its operations by opening a new regional office in Tampa, Florida. Citadel also announced the appointment of Gary N. Webb as director of its...
Florida Agents’ Leader Grady Cites Progress, Disappointments on Reform
Jun 23 2011 // For those in the industry, Florida’s recent legislative session was a long march as they tried to navigate through a process that initially promised much in the form of a new governor and strong pro-business...
Florida Counties Ban Fireworks Due to Wildfire Risk
Jun 23 2011 // Drought conditions and rampant wildfires have forced 29 Florida counties to ban open fires. And for 22 of those counties, the ban covers fireworks. The Florida Division of Forestry said that more than 440 active wildfires...
Florida, Mississippi, Hawaii Sign Surplus Lines Tax Agreement
Jun 20 2011 // Florida, Mississippi and Hawaii have entered into an agreement that will allow them to keep millions of dollars in taxes on surplus lines insurance policies. The agreement was the result of federal legislation — the...
Business Moves
Jun 20 2011 // Argus Fire & Casualty, Florida A Florida insurance company is on its way to closing its door as it informed agents it is going to start dropping policyholders when their policies are up for renewal. Argus Fire &...
Florida Reinsurance Renewals Reflect Unsettled Market
Jun 20 2011 // The Florida reinsurance renewals on June 1, 2011, experienced a wide range of outcomes as substantial catastrophe losses combined with two major catastrophe model revisions over the past 16 months led to a volatile renewal...
Actuaries Learn About Florida Property Insurance Challenges
Jun 20 2011 // Exposed to devastating hurricanes and a surprising influx of sinkholes, Florida may have the most challenging market for homeowners insurance in the nation, panelists told members of the Casualty Actuarial Society Spring...
Florida Approves RMS Hurricane Model
Jun 20 2011 // Florida’s residential property insurance market is bracing for even more volatility after the state’s modeling commission approved the use of the new Risk Management Services (RMS) catastrophe model. The...
