Articles by William Rabb

Rabb is Southeast Editor for Insurance Journal. He is a long-time newspaper man in the Deep South; also covered workers' comp insurance issues for a trade publication for a few years.

Florida OIR Approves 1% Average Workers’ Compensation Rate Decrease

Florida employers will soon see the smallest decrease in workers’ compensation rates in years – just a 1% reduction from current overall rates in the voluntary market. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation announced Monday that the insurance commissioner had …

Would Letting Roofers Do More Wind-Mitigation Work Help Reduce Florida’s Insured Losses in Storms?

A recent photograph of destruction left by Hurricane Milton’s wind tells the story: An entire roof section on a residential complex in Bradenton, Florida – including rafters and ceiling joists – was ripped off, exposing people’s abodes and belongings to …

Florida Commission Accepts Three New Flood Models as Storm Impacts Rise

As with computer models that help predict risk from hurricane winds, insurers now have more than one model to use when gauging flood damage in storm-soaked Florida. The Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology this month accepted three flood …

‘Board Certified’ Could Soon Be an Advertising Thing for Florida Insurance Lawyers

By this time next year, plaintiffs lawyers, who have frequently been held up as thorns in the side of the Florida property insurance industry for their sometimes-aggressive pursuit of policyholder claims litigation, could have a stamp of credibility to brandish …

Would Letting Roofers Do More Wind-Mit Work Help Cut Florida’s Insured Losses?

A recent photograph of destruction left by Hurricane Milton’s wind tells the story: An entire roof section on a residential complex in Bradenton, Florida – including rafters and ceiling joists – was ripped off, exposing people’s abodes and belongings to …

Florida Rule Bars Altering Adjusters’ Reports Without Explanation

Almost two years after a group of independent claims adjusters alleged that insurers had deceptively altered their damage estimates and low-balled policyholders, Florida’s chief financial officer has issued an emergency rule barring similar actions in Hurricane Milton claims. “Any move …

Employees Enjoy Many Paths for Growth, Advancement at Brightway

The people at Brightway Insurance, based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, near Jacksonville, seem to have taken employee satisfaction and performance to a whole new level. Each employee is asked to make sure, before they leave the office each day, …

KBRA Says Florida Insurers Will Weather the Storms; Cat Fund Can Handle Payouts

Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a state-created layer of reinsurance, expects to pay out about $4.6 billion to help cover insurers’ losses in Hurricanes Helene and Milton. But that won’t trigger a surcharge on premiums. And a number of Florida property …

Insurer Not Liable if Bank Improperly Cashes Insurance Check, Appeals Court Finds

Insurance carriers are not responsible if a bank improperly cashes a check made out to two insureds and gives the proceeds to only one of them, a federal appeals court decided this week. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals …

Fla. DFS Offers to Check Contracts With Roofers, Adjusters; Tenn. Eyes Claims Denials

Officials in two Southeastern states have taken steps to hold insurers or recipients of insurance funds accountable after Hurricanes Helene and Milton spurred thousands of insurance claims. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance reminded insurance carriers that they must …