Latest Florida Headlines

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

People and Places

Oct 25 2004 // F. Michael Crowley F. Michael Crowley has been appointed executive vice president and national director for property casualty by the board of directors of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. (HRH), an insurance brokerage company...

Northern Capital Insurance Co. to Begin Writing Homeowners Policies in South Florida in 2005

Oct 22 2004 // Northern Capital Insurance Company announced it plans to begin writing homeowners policies in Southeast and Southwest Florida in 2005. Alexander Anthony and Albert Fernandez, the principal shareholders of Citizens...

Q3 Commercial P/C Premiums Continue Fall

Oct 20 2004 // Commercial property/casualty insurance premiums continued to decline significantly during the third quarter of this year, with two-thirds of all large and medium accounts experiencing drops of up to 20 percent and an...

Fla. DFS Reminds Construction Contractors of Workers’ Comp Requirements

Oct 20 2004 // In response reportedly to hundreds of calls from homeowners and construction contractors, both in and out-of-state, concerned about Florida requirements for workers’ compensation insurance coverage, the Florida...

Safeco Unveils Q3 Numbers, Notes Hurricane Impact

Oct 19 2004 // Seattle-based Safeco on Tuesday reported third-quarter results, reflecting strong fundamentals in a period with substantial hurricane losses and the loss on the sale of Life & Investments. The company posted a net...

Best Reacts to Allstate Floridian’s Capital Management Efforts Following Hurricanes

Oct 18 2004 // A.M. Best Co. reported this week that it acknowledges Allstate Floridian Insurance Group’s (Allstate Floridian) (Northbrook, Ill.) capital management efforts following Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and...

A.M. Best Affirms FSR for Florida Farm Bureau Group

Oct 18 2004 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of A (Excellent) of the Florida Farm Bureau Group. The rating applies to Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company and its fully reinsured subsidiary, Florida...

Insurers to Pay $6B on Claims for Hurricane Ivan

Oct 15 2004 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $6 billion for insured property losses from Hurricane Ivan, according to ISO’s Property Claim Services (PCS) unit. Hurricane...

Wind Insurance Hikes Slap Coastal Residents

Oct 15 2004 // Coastal homeowners are getting socked again, and it has nothing to do with Charley, Frances, Ivan or Jeanne. Homeowners who buy hurricane insurance on their homes through Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the...

Safeco Estimates 3Q Catastrophe Losses

Oct 12 2004 // Seattle-based Safeco announced that its aggregate pretax catastrophe losses for the third quarter are estimated at $195 million. The estimated effect on third-quarter net income is $127 million after tax, or $0.96 per...

Industry Pitched In After Hurricanes

Oct 11 2004 // Insurance Journal applauds the industry for its speedy reaction and assistance to assess damage and help out after hurricanes Bonnie, Charley, Ivan, and Frances tore through the southeast leaving major damage — no...

Gallagher Addresses Hurricane Victims’ Concerns of Multiple Deductibles

Oct 11 2004 // Floridians hit by four hurricanes in six weeks faced the likelihood of paying individual deductibles for each hurricane, amounting to tens of thous-ands of dollars in deductibles, until Florida’s Chief Financial...

Insurance Industry Meets Challenge As Hurricanes Tear Through Southeast

Oct 11 2004 // National and state insurance industry associations reacted speedily as hurricanes Charley, Ivan, Frances and Jeanne tore through the southeast — all four landing in Florida and continuing on to devastate states as...

Storm Losses Lead Florida Regulators to Take Over American Superior

Oct 11 2004 // State regulators have placed American Superior Insurance Co. into receivership because it was overwhelmed by homeowners claims. The small company, with offices in Plantation, Fla., has about 60,000 policyholders. The state...

Remember the Lessons of Hurricane Andrew

Oct 11 2004 // Due to efforts to rebuild the Florida property insurance market after Hurricane Andrew, most policyholders in the wake of 2004s more costly hurricane season should not face the same post-Andrew price increases or limited...

OOF! Frances Hits Florida; Damages Widespread, But Less Than Feared – National – Sept. 6, 2004

Oct 11 2004 // Volusia County, Fla., was hard hit by Frances–even more damage than Charley. The county includes New Symrna Beach, Deland, Daytona Beach, Port Orange, Ormond Beach and others. No power at all in New Smyrna Beach,...

Brown Elected Chairman of CIAB

Oct 7 2004 // J. Hyatt Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Brown & Brown Inc., of Daytona Beach, Fla., is the 2005 chairman of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB). Brown was elected chairman during a...

IOA Ranks as 3rd Fastest Growing Agency

Oct 7 2004 // Florida’s largest privately-held insurance agency, Insurance Office of America (IOA), was recently ranked the nation’s 24th largest privately-held insurance agency by Hale’s Report (August, 2004). As the...

Seniors Focus of New Fla. Fire Safety Program

Oct 6 2004 // Each year, fire reportedly claims the lives of Florida’s elderly more than any other age group. To combat that sobering trend, the Department of Financial Services and State Fire Marshal’s Office have teamed up...

Gonzalez Named PIA President in Florida

Oct 5 2004 // The Professional Insurance Agents of Florida (PIA) announced that Sergio Gonzalez has been elected president of the 600-member trade association, effective Oct. 1, 2004. Gonzalez is the president and owner of SG &...