Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Commissioner Approves More Policy Removals from Citizens
May 21 2008 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty approved the plans of six insurance companies to remove another 100,000 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in June. Some of the companies already began taking out...
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Offers Rate Filing Seminar
May 21 2008 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has scheduled a symposium to instruct insurance company representatives to make rate filings more accurate and complete and in compliance with Florida law. The information session...
88 Fires Burning Across Florida Causing Smoky Conditions
May 20 2008 // Many Florida residents are experiencing smoky conditions because of a large fire in the Everglades and other fires throughout the state. The Florida Division of Forestry says there are 88 active fires across the state that...
Florida Weighs Reinsurance Collateral Rule Change
May 19 2008 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation held a public hearing recently on a draft rule that would give the insurance commissioner discretion to allow unaccredited reinsurance companies to conduct business in Florida...
Floridians Could See Increased Surcharge on Insurance Policies
May 19 2008 // Florida residents could soon be faced with increased surcharges on their home, auto and other insurance policies because the state’s catastrophe fund needs more money to pay claims from past hurricanes. The Florida...
A.M. Best: Credit Woes May Cause Turbulence in Catastrophe Markets
May 19 2008 // The credit crunch in the U.S. financial markets that boiled over after the subprime mortgage meltdown may affect the ability of insurers and reinsurers that cover coastal areas to raise cash for claims if a major hurricane...
Florida Workers’ Compensation Reforms Lowered Costs for a Year
May 19 2008 // Workers’ compensation costs per claim in Florida appear to have decreased in 2004 in the wake of reforms enacted in 2003, but the decrease did not continue in 2005, according to a new study by the Workers...
Florida Limits Public Adjusters’ Fees
May 19 2008 // The Florida Senate passed a bill to limit the contingency fees charged by public adjusters and prohibit intrusive solicitation practices. The law also requires a person to work as an apprentice under the supervision of a...
It Figures
May 19 2008 // 45 The number of ATV-related deaths in West Virginia in 2007, prompting Huntington’s City Council’s vote to ban all-terrain vehicles from public roads and property. The unanimous vote on April 28 modifies a...
Declarations
May 19 2008 // Judge in Awe “I have never experienced anything like these 124 cases in my 15 years on the bench. These cases have generated a tremendous amount of publicity, both in West Virginia and nationally. These are not...
Florida Insureds of Bankrupt Poe Seek Filing Deadline Extension
May 19 2008 // Property owners in Florida who had policies with the now-bankrupt Poe Financial Group did not receive sufficient notice of a June deadline to dispute claims in court, lawyers argued April 30 after filing a class-action...
Florida’s Adding to Citizens’ Risk Worries CFO Sink
May 19 2008 // Florida lawmakers rolled the dice again on May 1, signing off on a new insurance bill that does little to alleviate Florida’s risky stakes in the marketplace, according to industry executives and many lawmakers. A...
Florida Hurricane Conference Presents Message of Preparedness
May 16 2008 // Preparing for hurricanes, despite two slow previous storm seasons, is key to the survival of Floridians and recovery efforts, officials said. About 2,800 people attended the 22nd Annual Governor’s Hurricane...
Firefighters Get Upper Hand on Florida Wildfire, Schools Open
May 16 2008 // Firefighters hoped to make further major gains against a wildfire that has charred thousands of acres along Florida’s Atlantic coast, as police questioned a man seen tossing a Molotov cocktail into nearby...
Florida Regulator Lifts Allstate Suspension; Continuing Compliance Required
May 16 2008 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty ordered a stay of the suspension of the Allstate Companies’ licenses to sell new business in the state. McCarty’s decision comes as the result of Allstate’s...
Board Won’t Exclude 2 Investment Firms from Florida Bidding
May 15 2008 // Two major investment firms will advise Florida on financing its hurricane catastrophe insurance fund although Gov. Charlie Crist tried to exclude them. Crist wanted to keep Lehman Brothers and J.P. Morgan from joining the...
Arson-started Florida Wildfires Fueled by Growth
May 15 2008 // Wildfires that have gutted at least 40 homes along Florida’s Atlantic coast are believed to have been started by arsonists, but they got help from two classic Florida factors: rampant development and a year-round...
Florida-based Brightway Insurance Continues Statewide Expansion
May 15 2008 // Brightway Insurance of Jacksonville, Fla., recently acquired Mathis Insurance of Amelia Island, Fla. The acquisition tops off a year of expansion, during which Brightway added 10 new offices in seven cities throughout...
Ratings Roundup: AIG-Equity, MBIA, Great Lakes, Country-Wide, Infinity, Allstate, Farmers Mutual (Nebr.)
May 15 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘A’ junior subordinated debt rating to American International Group Inc.’s $5 billion of equity units. S&P also said it has...
Florida Home Mitigation Grant Program Nears 35,000 Recipients
May 14 2008 // The My Safe Florida Home program is projecting it will exceed the Florida Legislature’s goal of approving 35,000 homeowners for grants by the end of May, according to Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink . The...
