Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Deal Reached in Florida Wrongful Death Suit Against Ballplayer Leyritz
May 27 2010 // A settlement has been approved in a wrongful death lawsuit involving former major leaguer Jim Leyritz, who was charged in a drunken driving manslaughter crash. An attorney for the family of the woman killed in the December...
Florida Case Could Hold Private Firms, Insurers Liable for Foster Kids’ Injuries
May 26 2010 // A few months after a 10-year-old child was placed with eight other children in a Tampa foster home overseen by a single mom, a 13-year-old boy sneaked into his room and raped him in 2005. But Hillsborough Kids Inc., a...
MGAs Called Critical to Florida’s Property Insurance Market
May 25 2010 // Several of Florida’s insurers with affiliated managing general agencies (MGAs) have come in for criticism recently but there is no widespread problem with the MGA model, regulators and insurance industry executives...
Astonish Results Opens Florida Office
May 24 2010 // Insurance agency marketing and web services provider Astonish Results is opening an office in Orlando, Fla. In addition to personnel, the Orlando office houses a training facility for the Rhode Island-based firm. The...
Florida Hurricane Fund Has $17 Billion in Cash for Claims
May 20 2010 // The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund is as healthy as ever heading into the 2010 storm season. An advisory council to the fund reported Tuesday that it has enough cash and bonding ability to pay off more than $25 billion...
16 Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurers to Return $9.4 Million
May 19 2010 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has ordered 16 workers compensation insurance companies to return more than $9.4 million in excessive profits to their policyholders. Under state law, workers compensation...
Florida Leaders See Omnibus Bill Stabilizing Home Insurance Market
May 18 2010 // Florida insurance leaders belive that recently passed legislation (SB2044) is a step towards stabilizing the state’s property insurance market that has had been rocked by politics, premiums assessments, company...
Coming Hurricane Season Could Complicate Gulf Oil Spill Disaster
May 18 2010 // BP’s oil spill could make for one of the highest-stakes U.S. Gulf hurricane seasons on record. Storms may scuttle clean-up efforts, force containment vessels to retreat, or propel spilled crude and tar balls over...
Ironshore Enters Florida High-Valued Homeowners Market
May 17 2010 // Specialty insurer Ironshore Inc. has entered the personal lines market to underwrite a high value homeowners program for properties valued in excess of $1 million. The program will be offered in partnership with Hull &...
Florida, New York Tops in Insurance Claims from Staged Accidents
May 17 2010 // Suspicious insurance claims from staged accidents are on the rise – and nowhere more than in New York and Florida, two states with no-fault statutes. Overall, the number of questionable claims from staged accidents...
Business Moves
May 17 2010 // Fiesta Auto Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Fiesta Auto Insurance, a franchise system to combine insurance and tax preparation under one roof, announced it has opened 20 new locations during the past 90 days. The...
Florida #1 in Staged Accident Claims
May 17 2010 // Suspicious insurance claims from staged accidents are on the rise- and nowhere more than in New York and Florida, two states with no-fault statutes. Georgia and North Carolina are also among the top states. Overall, the...
Florida Lawmakers Pass Omnibus Property Insurance Bill
May 17 2010 // On the final day of this legislative session, Florida lawmakers passed omnibus legislation that aims to bring more control over homeowners insurance costs, raises the state’s minimum capital requirements for...
Florida Consumer Advocate Dartland to Crist: Sign Property Insurance Bill
May 14 2010 // The chorus urging Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to sign an omnibus property insurance measure passed by the Legislature is growing. One of the state’s leading consumer advocates, Walter Dartland, of the Consumer...
Florida Insurers Head Into Hurricane Season with Fingers Crossed
May 14 2010 // Florida’s property insurance companies haven’t suffered hurricane losses for nearly five years, but many claim to be losing money even while collecting hefty premiums. It’s a complex paradigm for almost...
Survivors Can’t Forget Fierce Hurricane That Hit Florida in 1935
May 14 2010 // The seven elderly guests on stage at Island Christian Church were just kids 75 years ago when a Category 5 hurricane barreled into their homes in the Upper Florida Keys, leaving a trail of destruction and death. A packed...
Florida Man Charged with Arson of His Yacht Named Shameless
May 14 2010 // A Tallahassee man has been arrested on charges of arson, insurance fraud and grand theft after state investigaors said they determined the suspect intentionally set fire to his yacht, a 50-foot SeaRay named...
Florida Eliminates Time Limit on Sex Abuse Claims
May 13 2010 // Florida’s governor has signed a bill eliminating all time limits for filing criminal or civil action alleging sexual abuse of children. Gov. Charlie Crist signed the bill (HB 525) on Tuesday. It lifts statutes of...
Florida Hurricane Funds Seeks $693 Million for Reopened 2005 Claims
May 12 2010 // The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund is to begin selling $693 million in tax-exempt bonds to help repay insurers for new and reopened claims from 2005 storms. The bonds are secured in part by emergency assessments levied...
Florida Creates Legal Team on Oil Spill Recovery
May 12 2010 // Two former Florida attorney generals will be leading a legal team to represent the state on issues resulting from a runaway oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Jim Smith, who was attorney general between 1979 and 1987 and...
