Federal and state governments should work with private insurance companies to sponsor disaster mediation programs, according to a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. James Lee Witt, president of James Lee Witt Associates and FEMA director in the …
Unless the state adopts a comprehensive and workable plan, accumulating financial stress could destroy the viability of the Florida insurance market and leave millions of Floridians without affordable and reliable insurance coverage, according to Sen. Rod Smith, of Alachua, Fla, …
A policy change that will allow Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to renew existing builder’s risk policies and write new policies was unanimously approved by the board of governors during a July 21 emergency meeting. The board also unanimously approved a …
Citizens Property Insurance Co. CFO Terri Slack announced June 23 that a $3.05 billion bond issue, believed to be the largest single bond issue in Florida’s history, was expected to be finalized June 29 in Miami. The bond issue will …
Abolishing contingency commissions and making them illegal would be a major mistake, according to Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. Oxendine said he recently told carrier representatives they were “literally crazy” for wanting to abolish contingencies. The Georgia regulator also criticized …
Carriers and insurers look at Florida as a heavy-handed, intrusive, oppressive regulatory regime and it would require a major shift in how government and legislators approach this market to encourage companies to come into the state, Ernie Csiszar, president and …
Citizens Property Insurance Co. officials recently told agents meeting in Orlando that Florida’s insurer of last resort is “as ready as they are going to be,” to face the 2006 hurricane season. Paul Palumbo, Citizens head actuary, appealed to independent …
Agents can make a difference in the perception of the insurance business if, instead of tracking and billing delinquent accounts, they turn everything around and call good customers, Kat Davis of Tower Hill Insurance in Gainesville, Fla., told Professional Insurance …
Florida insurance officials are vowing to enforce a new rule regarding the use of credit scores in insurance starting September 1, despite protests from the industry that the rule is too stringent. The Financial Services Commission unanimously adopted the rule …
According to a consultant for the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, Florida’s building codes that were approved in 2001 are working. He also says that Hurricane Charlie was a “model” hurricane in the sense that it was exactly what the …
