Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Eight Contractors Charged in Florida Workers’ Comp Sting Operation
Aug 4 2022 // Eight Florida men have been charged with contracting without a license and failing to obtain workers’ compensation insurance, after a sting operation led by state and local authorities. The Manatee County...
Weston Insurance Becomes Fifth Florida Insurer to Go Insolvent This Year
Aug 4 2022 // Weston Property & Casualty Insurance Co. is insolvent and should be placed into receivership, making it the fifth Florida property insurer this year to be dissolved, according to state regulators. The Florida Office of...
Two Bankers Insurance Firms Withdraw Ratings; Florida OIR Offers Info on Backstop
Aug 3 2022 // The Demotech financial review firm has withdrawn the stability ratings for two more property insurance companies, Bankers Specialty Insurance and First Community, both part of Bankers Insurance Group. The companies are...
Demotech Downgrades Three in Florida; AM Best, KBRA Say They’re Available
Aug 2 2022 // Just two weeks after the Demotech financial rating firm set off a firestorm of controversy by warning that it could soon downgrade as many as 17 Florida property insurers – then promised to hold off – the firm has now...
Florida People Moves: DeSantis Reappoints Knight to Citizens Board
Aug 1 2022 // Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has reappointed venture capitalist Erin Knight to the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. board of governors, the governor’s office announced. Knight Knight, of Coral Gables, was appointed a...
Another View on Florida Ratings Flap; and Petrelli Calls Citizens Re Idea ‘Creative’
Aug 1 2022 // The recent brouhaha regarding Demotech and its Financial Stability Ratings (FSRs) of as many as 20 Florida insurers has now come full circle…almost. One important question remains unanswered. Before answering the...
Florida Regulators, FAIA Slam Demotech for Reported Plans to Downgrade 17 Carriers
Aug 1 2022 // Florida’s top insurance regulators and the Florida Association of Insurance Agents in late July blasted the Demotech financial rating firm after the organization reportedly notified 17 insurers that they will soon be...
Another One: American Traditions Stops New Business in Florida
Jul 28 2022 // Another property insurer has halted writing new policies in Florida. For homeowners, condominiums and rental properties, “new business will be paused temporarily until further notice,” American Traditions...
United P&C Completes Florida Restructuring Amid Catastrophe Losses
Jul 28 2022 // United Insurance Holdings, parent of United Property & Casualty Insurance, said it has completed most of its major reorganization plan, consolidating its four Florida-based carriers into two. The news was accompanied...
Insureds Can’t Block Repairs Then Sue Insurer, Florida Appeals Court Agrees
Jul 28 2022 // Insureds cannot recover damages from the insurance company if they failed to comply with the policy and failed to allow the insurer to make the needed repairs, a Florida appeals court decided Wednesday. Florida’s 3rd...
Florida Regulators Unveil Ratings Crisis Solution: Let Citizens Reinsure Carriers
Jul 27 2022 // Florida’s insurance commissioner announced today that his office has found an “unprecedented solution” to the looming property insurer rating crisis – let Citizens Property Insurance Corp. provide a...
Crist Slams DeSantis for Florida Insurance Crisis; Fried Blames Crist
Jul 27 2022 // U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, the Democratic frontrunner for governor of Florida, this week sharply criticized incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis for failing to solve the state’s property insurance crisis. “Ron DeSantis...
Demotech Holds Off as Florida Divides on Planned Downgrades
Jul 26 2022 // Rating Firm Postpones Ratings for 17 Carriers After Backlash The property insurance community has divided into two camps after the firestorm that erupted over the potential financial rating downgrades for 17 Florida...
Four Years After Hurricane Michael, Florida City Rebuilding, Recovering
Jul 25 2022 // MEXICO BEACH, Fla. — Standing on the deck of the new Driftwood Inn, 31/2 years after Hurricane Michael obliterated the old one, Tom Wood spoke of the months after the storm. One of his daughters had urged him and his...
Florida Regulators, FAIA Slam Demotech for Reported Plans to Downgrade 17 Carriers
Jul 21 2022 // Florida’s top insurance regulators and the Florida Association of Insurance Agents on Thursday blasted the Demotech financial rating firm after the organization reportedly notified 17 insurers that they will soon be...
Florida OIR: $3B Spent on Claims Defense in 2021; 27 Insurers Now on Watch List
Jul 21 2022 // In 2021, Florida’s domestic property insurers spent more than $3 billion on legal defense costs and containment – double the figure reported in 2016. That’s one jaw-dropping but not surprising takeaway from...
Starbucks Ordered to Pay $9 Million After Florida Woman Hit in Drive-Thru Lane
Jul 19 2022 // Starbucks Corp. has appealed a nearly $9 million verdict rendered against it after a customer was struck by a vehicle in the drive-through lane at a Fernandina Beach, Florida, coffee shop. The driver and the property owner...
Goodbye Courtroom? Florida Citizens Wants Claims Disputes Heard by Admin Judges
Jul 14 2022 // By this time next year, Citizens Property Insurance policyholders and assignees of benefits could see their claims disputes decided, not in county or circuit courts, but by administrative judges who work for a Florida...
Rural Florida County Reeling From Nine Fentanyl Deaths in One Weekend
Jul 11 2022 // A small, largely rural county west of Florida’s capital experienced an unheard-of spike in deadly drug overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl over the July 4 weekend, with nine people dying in the latest sign...
An Invasive Creature is (Again) Threatening Florida Crops, Buildings, Trees
Jul 11 2022 // Invasive giant African land snails that can eat building plaster and stucco, consume hundreds of varieties of plants and carry diseases that affect humans have been found once again in Florida, where officials said that...
