Latest Florida Headlines

All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Key findings

May 21 2007 // The Milliman study shows that recently passed Florida legislation will mean that homeowners will pay less for property insurance. Motorists and small business owners will pay more if an average to large storm hits. The...

Study assesses impact of Florida property insurance legislation

May 21 2007 // A Florida law enacted during a 2007 January special session provides immediate savings for homeowners by shifting potential payments for hurricane losses from the homeowners receiving the current policy benefits to future...

Wildfires take major toll in Georgia, Florida

May 21 2007 // Officials closed a 35-mile stretch of Interstate 75 from the Georgia-Florida state line to Lake City, Fla., as well as a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 10, from U.S. 90 to U.S. 129, as a gigantic wildfire approached them...

2007 Property/Casualty State Specialist Insurers

May 21 2007 // 1 Brickstreet Mutual Insurance Co. WV 765,963 2 Texas Mutual Insurance Co. TX 743,095 3 Old American Cty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. TX 491,641 4 SAIF Corp. OR 449,794 5 Universal Property & Casualty...

Spring wildfires, floods wreak havoc from coast to coast

May 21 2007 // Nature’s fury made life miserable from one end of the United States to the other, with people forced out of their homes by wildfires near both coasts and the Canadian border and by major flooding in the Midwest. And...

Status quo on Capitol Hill may be best

May 21 2007 // IIABA’s leader Bob Rusbuldt hopes Congress does nothing, except on TRIA Insurance Journal’s Andrew Simpson, at the IIABA’s National Legislative Conference and Convention in Washington, D.C., in April,...

Wildfires take major toll

May 21 2007 // Officials closed a 35-mile stretch of Interstate 75 from the Georgia-Florida state line to Lake City, Fla., as well as a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 10, from U.S. 90 to U.S. 129, as a gigantic wildfire approached them...

News Currents

May 21 2007 // Spring wildfires, floods wreak havoc from coast to coast Inmates from the Georgia Department of Corrections use Class A foam and rakes Tuesday, May 1, 2007 to extinguish the remains of a fire in Waycross, Ga. As part of a...

Declarations

May 21 2007 // Declarations Furious pace “Despite the well-known vulnerability to hurricanes and rapidly escalating property values, coastal development in vulnerable areas continues at a furious pace. Adding billions of dollars in...

Key findings

May 21 2007 // • The Milliman study shows that recently passed Florida legislation will mean that homeowners will pay less for property insurance. Motorists and small business owners will pay more if an average to large storm...

Fla. Building Codes, Revamped Since Andrew, Still Being Worked

May 18 2007 // When Category 5 Hurricane Andrew damaged or destroyed more than 125,000 Florida homes and left about 250,000 people homeless in south Miami-Dade County, the destruction was born from a mix of 165 mph winds, outdated...

While Residents, Insurers Fret, Contractors Welcome Storms

May 18 2007 // With the 2007 hurricane season on the horizon, Steve Munnell acknowledges that the state’s roofing contractors are “praying for rain.” The executive director of the Florida Roofing, Sheet Metal and Air...

Many Florida Families Still Struggling as New Hurricane Season Nears

May 18 2007 // Terri Rose was living comfortably with her four children when 2004’s Hurricane Frances ripped a hole in the family’s roof. A few weeks later, Hurricane Jeanne soaked everything. Their home was condemned, then...

RMS Withdraws Five-Year Hurricane Model from Florida

May 18 2007 // Risk Management Solutions has withdrawn a short-term, five-year hurricane forecasting model submitted for approval to Florida officials after being told the model did not meet required standards. Mitch Sattler, RMS vice...

Tougher Fla. Building Codes Still a Work in Progress

May 17 2007 // Flying debris smashed through a window and Hurricane Andrew’s screaming winds pushed inside the home, splintering walls and tearing off the roof. Parents and children huddled under a mattress in a bathtub or closet...

On Eve of Hurricane Season, U.S. Mandates Safety Labels on Generators

May 17 2007 // Nine words could save lives this hurricane season: “Using a generator indoors can kill you in minutes.” That might seem obvious, but it’s not — each year dozens of Americans die because they don’t...

Merkel: P/C Lessons from Bermuda

May 17 2007 // Bermuda? Business only. Going to hit about a dozen companies in two days with one of my favorite P&C analysts, Harry Fong of Calyon. I hope there are a decent number of insurance only buy-side analysts along for the...

Former Florida GOP Chairman, Insurance Agent Dies at 84

May 16 2007 // William M. Taylor, a former chairman of the Florida Republican Party, has died. He was 84. Taylor, an insurance agent for 50 years, grew up in Thomasville, Ga., The Florida Times-Union reported. He moved to Jacksonville as...

Appurtenant Structures Contribute to Florida Storm Loss, Study Shows

May 16 2007 // During the 2004-2005 Florida hurricane seasons, there were anecdotal reports that appurtenant structures such as pool enclosures, garages, carports, and sunrooms substantially contributed to the total storm damage either...

Hundreds of Florida Wildfire Evacuees Still Waiting to Go Home

May 16 2007 // Higher winds were expected to fan the flames of the large fire burning in southeast Georgia and Florida on Monday. The wildfire that raced through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into Florida was started by...