Latest Mississippi Headlines
All the headlines from our Mississippi Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mississippi to Block Coast-Only Insurance Rate Filings
Dec 28 2009 // Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he’s taking steps aimed at discouraging companies from seeking higher rates for the Gulf Coast or other specific areas of Mississippi. Chaney said he will require...
Mississippi Stabilizes Wind Pool Insurance Premiums with $19 Million
Dec 28 2009 // Property owners insured in the Mississippi wind pool may soon find some relief from rising premium costs with the transfer of $19 million from the Mississippi Insurance Department to the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting...
Store Shooting Case Tests Mississippi Cap on Civil Damages
Dec 21 2009 // Before Mississippi lawmakers passed tort reform that limited damages in civil litigation, Ronnie Lee Lymas’ lawsuit against the store where he was shot wouldn’t have gotten much attention. That’s anything...
State Farm Rate Hike Not Easy But Necessary, Says Mississippi’s Chaney
Dec 11 2009 // Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he was not happy about granting a 19.5 percent homeowners rate increase to State Farm, but he had little choice. “Would you want me to have 26,000 policies canceled...
Mississippi Attorney General to Target Intellectual Property Theft
Dec 10 2009 // Those behind the sophisticated computer software in Mississippi and elsewhere that tracks down child predators on the Internet are now targeting people who illegally download music and movies. “The good guys are...
March Trial Set for Lawsuit Over Mississippi Dam Break
Dec 9 2009 // A civil lawsuit filed over the damage caused by the 2004 collapse of the Big Bay Lake dam in Lamar County has been moved to Harrison County and set for a March 22 trial. Circuit Court Judge Michael Eubanks granted the...
Mississippi Allows 19.5% State Farm Coastal Rate Hike
Dec 1 2009 // Insurance rates for about 26,000 State Farm homeowners in three Mississippi coastal counties will rise 19.5 percent beginning in February. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney announced the rate increase, noting...
Mississippi Court Upholds Judgment Against County Due to Insurer Default
Nov 30 2009 // A $250,000 default judgment against Tippah County has been upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The case was filed in 2007 by Daniel Childers of Ripley, who contended that his elbow was broken during an arrest by...
Mississippi County to Buy Insurance for Volunteer Fire Firefighters
Nov 30 2009 // Mississippi’s Lee County will spend more than $50,000 over the next three years on accident and life insurance for its 300-plus volunteer firefighters. The county’s 18 fire departments include only one —...
The Mississippi Supreme Court’s Anti-Concurrent Clause Decision
Nov 15 2009 // How Far Will It Go? On Oct. 8, 2009, the Mississippi Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Corban v. USAA, in which it addressed the enforceability and application of “Anti- Concurrent Cause” clauses (ACCs)...
Hurricane Ida Kills 124 in El Salvador; Heading for Gulf Oil Fields and U.S.
Nov 9 2009 // Hurricane Ida headed toward oil and gas facilities in the central Gulf of Mexico on Monday on a path to the U.S. Gulf Coast after killing 124 people in El Salvador following floods and mudslides. U.S. oil companies were...
Actor Freeman Settles Mississippi Auto Accident Suit
Nov 9 2009 // Actor Morgan Freeman has settled a lawsuit related to a 2008 car accident that seriously injured him and a passenger, according to court records. Terms of the settlement were not released. Demaris Meyer filed a federal...
With Katrina Insurance Finally Settled, Mississippi College Starts Rebuilding
Oct 30 2009 // Pearl River Community College in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is moving forward on rebuilding facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina after four years of “moving in quicksand.” Officials settled with Zurich...
Gulfport, Mississippi to Start Environmental Claims Court
Oct 29 2009 // Gulfport will start an environmental court next week to deal with derelict properties, tree ordinance violations, vandalism, building- and fire-code violations and other issues. Mayor George Schloegel plans to ask the city...
Mississippi School District Sued Again Over Alleged Paddling of Student
Oct 28 2009 // A school district in Mississippi’s Leflore County has been hit with a lawsuit from a student alleging injuries from a paddling. An 11-year-old is seeking $500,000 from the Greenwood Public School District in a suit...
Mississippi Witnessing Rise in Women Charged with Drunk Driving
Oct 19 2009 // After having drinks with friends one night, Kristina Tanner left in her car to buy someone a pack of cigarettes. On the way back, she was arrested for DUI — her second drunken-driving arrest within a...
Letting the Courts Decide
Oct 19 2009 // While insurers generally see the use of credit scores as both fair and valid, not all independent agents concur. Two lawsuits of interest to the insurance industry have generated media attention in recent weeks. Only one...
Letting the Courts Decide
Oct 19 2009 // While insurers generally see the use of credit scores as both fair and valid, not all independent agents concur. Two lawsuits of interest to the insurance industry have generated media attention in recent weeks. Neither...
Mississippi Court Rules Home Policy Covers Hurricane Wind Damage
Oct 19 2009 // In a 9-0 decision, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that so-called “all-risk home insurance policies may cover wind damage from hurricanes, even in situations where the loss is later exacerbated by water from...
Mississippi Rep. Taylor Urges Obama to Reform Flood Insurance Program
Oct 16 2009 // Using President Obama’s visit to New Orleans this week as his backdrop, Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., again urged the Administration to reform the National Flood Insurance Program, including adding wind coverage to the...
