Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurance Surcharges Add up for Florida Property Owners
Dec 22 2006 // Many Floridians already facing soaring insurance rates will be hit by additional surcharges that could tack another 9 percent to their premiums next year, according to the association that pays claims for defunct...
Skyrocketing Insurance Rates Part of Gov. Bush’s Legacy
Dec 19 2006 // Earlier this year, Ginny Stevans began compiling the “book of tears” – dozens of e-mails from Floridians who are suffering because of skyrocketing property insurance rates. Stevans, president of a Pasco...
Hurricanes Provide Florida with Practice for Handling Possible Pandemic
Dec 19 2006 // Hurricanes and flu outbreaks wouldn’t seem to have much in common. But Florida officials say that if a global outbreak of influenza emerges, sickening millions, many of the lessons learned responding to storms would...
Supreme Court: Florida Insurance Law Doesn’t Cover ‘Snowbirds’
Dec 18 2006 // “Snowbirds” and other part-time Florida residents who insure their cars back home cannot make claims under Florida laws that may be more favorable to them than those in their own states, the state Supreme Court...
Engineers Urge Better Safety for Public Workers After Fla. Explosion
Dec 15 2006 // Seventy-six-year Florida resident, American Society of Safety Engineers’ professional member and chemist Edwin Granberry Jr., urged officials to provide the same level of workplace safety protection for the estimated...
Brown & Brown to Reimburse Fla. Municipalities $4.8 Million in Fees
Dec 11 2006 // Insurance agency Brown & Brown, Inc. has agreed to reimburse up to 400 cities and counties in Florida approximately $4.8 million for collecting undisclosed fees or commissions when it placed various coverages with...
It Figures
Dec 11 2006 // 4% The increase in medical malpractice premiums collected by insurers in 2005 over 2004 in Tennessee. Insurers collected $341 million. Insurers paid out about 14 percent more in Tennessee cases in 2005 than the year...
Zurich agrees to terms to close multi-state bid-rigging probe
Dec 11 2006 // In separate but related move, N.Y., Conn., Ill. tell four insurers contingent commissions no longer an option Ten states, led by Texas and its Attorney General Greg Abbott, have come to terms with Zurich American, closing...
Figures
Dec 10 2006 // 4% The increase in medical malpractice premiums collected by insurers in 2005 over 2004 in Tennessee. Insurers collected $341 million. Insurers paid out about 14 percent more in Tennessee cases in 2005 than the year...
Zurich agrees to terms to close multi-state bid-rigging probe
Dec 10 2006 // News Currents Ten states, led by Texas and its Attorney General Greg Abbott, have come to terms with Zurich American, closing their probe into the insurer’s involvement in alleged bid-rigging and unfair compensation...
Florida Agents’ Communications Director Honored with Award
Dec 8 2006 // The President’s Award – The Professional Insurance Agents of Florida’s top honor – went to Communication Director Mary Frederick during a recent board of directors meeting in Key West,...
Florida CFO-Elect Picks Hallman as Next State Fire Marshal
Dec 6 2006 // Alex Sink, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer-elect, tapped Leslie “Les” Hallman to serve as the new director of the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Hallman, a 25-year veteran in fire and rescue...
Atlantic Specialty Lines of Florida Announces Asset Acquisition of Gary Markel Surplus Lines Brokerage
Dec 6 2006 // (Clearwater, FL and Richmond, VA) …Robert M. Bryant, President, and Martin H. Kanipe, Executive Vice President of Atlantic Specialty Lines of Florida, Inc. (ASL – FL) and Paula Ross, Executive Vice President, Gary...
Fla. Council Weighs Requiring Kayak Safety Course
Dec 5 2006 // A Florida boating advisory council may soon recommend that operators of kayaks and other non-motorized vessels must pass a safety course before they are allowed on the water. The Florida Boating Advisory Council will...
Atlantic Specialty Lines of Fla. Acquires Gary Markel
Dec 5 2006 // Atlantic Specialty Lines of Florida, Inc. has acquired the assets of Gary Markel Surplus Lines Brokerage, Inc. ASL-FL is a member of the Atlantic Specialty Lines, Inc. group of companies with offices in Virginia, Illinois,...
Florida Program Exceeds Goal of 12,000 Free Home Inspections
Dec 5 2006 // After completing 12,000 free home inspections by the end of the 2006 hurricane season – a goal that was exceeded by nearly 1,000 inspections – the pilot phase of the My Safe Florida Home program ended last...
Zurich Agrees to Terms to Close Multi-State Bid-Rigging Probe
Dec 4 2006 // Ten states, led by Texas and its Attorney General Greg Abbott, have come to terms with Zurich American, closing their probe into the insurer’s involvement in alleged bid-rigging and unfair compensation practices in...
Florida Medical Malpractice Market Competitive, Report Finds
Dec 4 2006 // Compared to five states with the largest medical malpractice markets, Florida ranks highest – at 29 percent – when measuring the combined non-loss costs to earned premium ratio, according to a new state...
Florida Calls Special Session on Insurance Issues for Jan. 16
Nov 29 2006 // Florida state officials will begin efforts to reshape the state’s property and casualty insurance market with a special legislative session on Jan. 16, 2007. Governor-elect Charlie Crist, Senate President Ken Pruitt...
Fla. Approves New 2.5% Surcharge on Citizens Insurance Homeowners
Nov 28 2006 // Florida homeowners will pay a 2.5 percent surcharge on their insurance premium when they renew policies in a plan approved last week by state regulators, a move to help bail out the state-backed insurance company for...
