Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Farmers Hit by Hurricanes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia to Get $800M in Federal Aid
Nov 12 2019 // The federal government announced $800 million in aid Friday to farmers in three southern states that were devastated by last year’s hurricanes. Nearly half that money will go to Florida, where timber farmers suffered...
Amoruso Joins Renaissance Alliance Insurance Services in Florida
Nov 8 2019 // Renaissance Alliance Insurance Services, a membership alliance for independent insurance agencies, has hired Anthony Amoruso as senior agency recruitment specialist in Florida. Oscar L. Miniet, regional executive vice...
Sinkhole Opens Under Florida Condo Building
Nov 4 2019 // Authorities say 13 people were evacuated after a possible sinkhole opened outside a condominium complex in central Florida. An advisory from Alert Seminole County says 16 units at Royal Arms Condominiums were affected by...
Regulator Orders Decrease to Proposed Fla. Workers’ Comp Rates
Nov 4 2019 // Florida businesses can expect an even greater decrease in workers’ compensation insurance next year, thanks to an order by the state regulator for a further decrease to the recent rate filing proposed by the National...
Scammers Swindle Florida City Out of Nearly $750K With Fraudulent Invoice
Nov 1 2019 // Police say scammers posing as a local construction company doing business with a north Florida city got an employee to change information that sent $742,376 to a fraudulent bank account. The Ocala Star-Banner reports a...
States Eye Private Flood Insurance Model Law Industry Thinks Is Unnecessary
Oct 31 2019 // An organization of state lawmakers is moving ahead toward adoption of a “model law” designed to encourage the sale of private flood insurance, even though insurers don’t think any new state laws are...
Florida Health System Fined $2M for Multiple HIPAA Breaches
Oct 28 2019 // A major Florida health system with six hospitals must pay over $2 million after federal officials determined its HIPAA compliance program was in disarray for years. Federal health officials on Wednesday said they’re...
Regulator Orders Further Decrease to Proposed Florida Workers’ Comp Rates
Oct 25 2019 // Florida businesses can expect an even greater decrease in workers’ compensation insurance next year, thanks to an order by the state regulator for a further decrease to the recent rate filing proposed by the National...
NTSB Blames Miami Bridge Collapse on Design Errors, Lack of Oversight
Oct 25 2019 // A Miami university bridge that collapsed and killed six people last year showed significant design errors and should have been more carefully monitored by the state government because of the project’s complexity,...
Florida Specialty CEO Disputes State Regulator’s Claims, Says Insurer Not Insolvent
Oct 24 2019 // The head of recently shuttered Florida Specialty Insurance Co. says that claims by Florida’s insurance regulator that the company is insolvent are untrue. The company’s CEO, Susan Patschak, argues...
Harden Adds Mershon to South Florida Employee Benefits Team
Oct 23 2019 // Harden, an insurance, risk management and employee benefits firm in the Southeast, has expanded its South Florida team with the addition of Corey Mershon as Employee Benefits account director in its Fort Lauderdale...
Florida to Seek $633M in Federal Disaster Prevention Funds
Oct 22 2019 // Florida is developing a plan to tap into as much as $633 million in federal money to help prepare for future storms. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the Department of Economic Opportunity will coordinate the...
Olsovsky Joins Insurance Office Of America’s Southwest Florida Region
Oct 22 2019 // Insurance Office of America has added Shanna N. Olsovsky to its team in the southwest Florida region as a commercial risk advisor. With more than 15 years of experience, Olsovsky handles all lines of property and casualty...
Tropical Storm Nestor Spawns Tornadoes in Florida Gulf but Spares Panhandle
Oct 21 2019 // Tropical Storm Nestor was downgraded Saturday after it spawned a tornado that damaged homes and a school in central Florida but spared an area of the Panhandle devastated one year ago by Hurricane Michael. The storm,...
Florida Attorney General Launches Investigation of Vaping Companies
Oct 21 2019 // Florida’s attorney general announced Wednesday that she will investigate more than 20 vaping companies that sell the products in the state, saying there’s a growing epidemic of teens using the e-cigarettes. In...
Business Moves
Oct 21 2019 // East The Hilb Group, Damiano Agency, Handy-Apple Valley The Hilb Group LLC has acquired Rhode Island-based Damiano Agency. The transaction became effective July 1, 2019. For more than 30 years, DA has been delivering...
National Hurricane Center Issues Tropical Storm Warning Along Gulf Coast
Oct 18 2019 // A disturbance in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico is likely to become a tropical storm that will hit the northern U.S. Gulf Coast with wind and rain, forecasters said Thursday. Moving off the eastern coast of Mexico, the...
Florida Hires Mental Health Coordinator for Disaster Recoveries
Oct 18 2019 // Florida’s emergency management agency has hired a mental health expert to coordinate services after catastrophes. Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis on Wednesday said that Darcy Abbott has been hired as...
Florida Officials Say Insurers Not Doing Enough to Settle Hurricane Michael Claims
Oct 17 2019 // It’s been just over a year since Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle, devastating the region as a Category 5 storm with 161-mph winds and causing more than $7.2 billion in estimated insured...
Florida CFO Patronis Appointed to FEMA National Advisory Council
Oct 17 2019 // Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis has been appointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Advisory Council (NAC) by Acting Administrator Pete Gaynor. Jimmy Patronis The NAC...
